The skill set, mindset and coaching designers need in the AI age (Part 3 of AI & Design Series)
LinkedIn estimates 65% of skills needed for a job will change by 2030 largely because of AI. How can we get today’s designers and future workers ready for this change? What skills do we need to develop? What mindset do we need to nurture? This is the third part of a series investigating the potential […]
Unlocking potential with scaffolding
As leaders, we need to nurture our team members’ growth and help them develop new skills. Too often we toss them into the deep end and hoping they swim, or micromanage every move they make. Neither works that well. By borrowing a powerful tool from the education field we can enable team members to soar […]
How to Manage Up
Everyone has a boss. Even a CEO needs to manage their board or important customers. Knowing how to manage leaders in your organization or your client’s is a pretty important skill and one I did not come by naturally. I’ve been luckily enough to have people knock sense into me. Know how your boss works […]
Getting pregnant is a great way to scale your organization
I’m pregnant with my second child and I’ve got a few months before I go on maternity. My growing belly is a daily reminder that I’ve got to get my 40 person team ready to run without me for a while. In my first pregnancy, I was scared about my job, my career, our finances […]
Getting things done Part 4: Manage the emotions
This is the third of a four part series, in Part 1 I introduced the framework, Part 2 was about understanding the people and situation and Part 3 was about preparation. In the final part we’ll talk about why and how to manage emotions. The number of people involved in a decision or change effort […]
Getting things done Part 3: Prepare Yourself
This is the third of a four part series, in Part 1 we introduced the framework, Part 2 was about understanding the people and situation. Let’s say you have a great idea for a solution to a problem that’s been plaguing your team and you can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t immediately say yes. Except when […]
Getting things done Part 2: Accept the weird and irrational
If you think saying something smart is all you need to make your idea a reality, you will have a career filled with disappointment and frustration. You need help, money, permission and support and getting it isn’t easy. In Part 1 of Getting Things Done I introduced a framework for driving change when all you […]
Getting things done Part 1: When you don’t have authority
I’ve spent my career trying to get things done or change things with no authority, no budget and no reports. Sometimes you have to make it work when all you have is charm, determination, persuasiveness and wit. Many mentors, managers and friends have helped me develop this framework. I’ve tried to pay that forward by […]
Pre-Mortems are great for kickoffs
The first few weeks of any product development effort are tricky. You are trying to figure out what you’re doing and how to work together. The expectations are always high and the timeline short. Recently I discovered the premortem in the excellent book Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less by Robert Sutton and […]
Want to drive change internally? Here are two reasons you shouldn’t skip the interviews
I’ve spent most of my career being a troublemaker trying to push an organization into trying new things. Sometimes I’ve failed miserably and a few times I’ve succeeded. As an outside consultant I always start by taking to different groups to understand their perspective on the problem and it helps me understand the points of […]