Design hand-off I used to do a lot of freelance/consulting work. I had a system down for negotiating contracts, aligning on final agreements, and ensuring clients understood what they were receiving and what to do with it next. I took several years off from that type of work, but lately I’ve been re-exploring it, starting […]
Recently, during a group product discussion, several folks asked me to elaborate on how I approach retrospectives and reflection. What they didn’t expect was that part of what has led to a pretty successful career is less about my professional nature than about how I approach reflection and self-improvement in general. No matter the walk […]
Lately, as I’ve been giving or forming new industry talks, continuing to coach folks, and interviewing at various orgs, I’ve been chatting with UX and Product Designers across the board: individual contributors, leads, heads of design. The whole gamut! There’s a pattern emerging. Common struggles I keep hearing: Product decisions made without user input (or […]
I have worked with several agencies, consulted independently for 20 years, and held full-time roles at numerous organizations, big and small, creating and executing business and product strategies that have led to success and meaningful growth. I frequently encounter the same pitfalls from leaders and teams trying to build or execute strategy, and I also […]
Pygmalion had an unusual name. It was one of the many things he felt judged for, and had begun to think people may be right about. As he walked to the cafe, he repeated in his head, over and over, how his boss had given his name a disappointing intonation. Oh, Pig-mawleeyawn, she’d say, drolling it […]
We’ve all taken personality tests in some form or another. During my career, I’ve taken DiSC and Myers-Briggs more times than I can count, often multiple times within the same organization. Something I have prided myself on is that every time I take one of these tests, I get an entirely different result. One time, much to the frustration […]
A good friend sent me the song Complicit, Repeat by Bambu, in between us talking about Apple’s TV show, Pluribus, and it got my mind churning. “The most miserable person in the world must save the world from happiness.” That’s Apple’s tagline for the new show, where all of humanity save for 12 people are infected with […]
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash I’m always learning something. Recently, I’ve been taking several drawing classes, as well as product management courses. What has surprised me is the amount of AI-slop responses that other students submit as answers to the optional group questions or peer-reviewed assignments. One of the platforms I use most is Coursera. On Coursera, […]
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash How do you actually start to turn something into a project? A good friend at work recently asked me for help. “How do you project-ify things?” She asked. Outside of meeting with her and coaching her through her first few projects, here are some of the things I shared with […]
I’ve been coaching a lot of teams and individuals the last few years, and I consistently come back to communication essentials. Whether unintentionally skewing toward command-and-control, lacking empathy, or simply ignorant to how their communication affects others, many aspiring leaders I speak to or hear about struggle to get the outcomes they desire from their […]