Leading People…By Design
I have a confession to make: I didn't go to art school so I could become a people manager. But as my career progressed, my responsibilities and perspective grew alongside it. The design problems I'm solving today focus less on individual touchpoints and more on creating and enabling systems for projects and people.
As I transitioned into a leadership position years ago, I had to figure out what kind of leader I would be and how to lead a team of people. Of course, I had some mental notes to draw from, having reported to good and not-so-good people managers since becoming a member of the working world as a teenager. But when it came to applying that experience and knowledge, I'll admit I didn't know what I was doing.
So, I had to lean on what I knew…and that was a mindset informed by design. Design is a method for solving problems and enabling progress, whether helping a company relate better to various audiences, communicating a complex concept simply, or helping employees do their work and develop into better versions of themselves.
Here are three personal mantras I used as a designer and have repurposed and adopted for managing people and teams.
Build momentum, don't kill it
At this point in our lives, whether it’s a friend, family member, coworker, or partner, we've all met someone who is overly critical or cynical. (And maybe if we look in the mirror, we know that person all too well.) No matter who it comes from, unconstructive feedback is something to be aware of and mitigate against. Left unattended, it’ll stall progress and extinguish passion, creating employees who are comfortable doing the bare minimum to get by.
That’s not the kind of team I want to lead. I want to develop an engaged and growing team that is excited about their contribution and anxious to take on more. Therefore, as a leader, I need to invest my time and energy in building their confidence and accountability.
One of the easiest ways to motivate and grow people is by changing how you give feedback. This could be applied to reviewing a project phase, such as a critical milestone or retrospective, or to individual employees as you check their work on a project or during an annual performance review.
Unfortunately, giving feedback is something most people are not taught to do well. We rely on the methods we’ve experienced in our own lives, which usually default very binary and polarizing positive & negative categories that sound something like “I Like, I Do Not Like” or “I Love, I Hate,” which can quickly deflate individuals and prevent them from remaining open-minded and optimistic about moving forward. Instead, try substituting a more constructive method of providing feedback. I’ve previously used “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder.”
The “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder” method frames feedback constructively and positively, enabling an open discussion and not closing off opportunities for further discussion. For example, rather than the very accusatory and finger-pointing posture of, “I hate that direction; why did you do that?” participants are encouraged to be more constructive and collaborative. Instead, what if you phrased your feedback like this, “I wish you would change that element to...” and “I wonder if you swapped this for that and added….” This builds on their progress and inspires possibilities rather than highlighting the roadblocks.
As a leader, inspiring your people and helping them see what they’re capable of is critical. While their way may not be how you would, does that make it wrong? And if it is inaccurate, help them see that by talking about where to go from here, so they can avoid that same trap in the future. Always continue the momentum toward what is possible.
The first draft is always perfect
No matter the medium, it can be daunting to create something where nothing existed before. The first draft is a crucial step and tool to take you from ambiguity to clarity. How? A first (or rough) draft’s sole purpose is to serve as a mirror, reflecting to its creator(s) what the next steps should be.
Often, our reaction is that it’s not as impressive as our head and heart told us it would be. This is why the typical mantra for a first draft is not, “the first draft is always perfect,” but instead, “the first draft is my one chance to show I am the expert and prove to everyone I know what I’m doing on this highly complex and ambiguous challenge.” That’s no way for you, or a team, to begin something. Because if they can’t live up to that ideal, it will leave people feeling defeated, like an imposter, and ready to give up before really getting started.
Maybe it’s because the anticipation and excitement around the first draft of something are often remarkably high. And often, there is an unspoken expectation that it will fulfill every hope and dream. If it doesn’t, I’ve seen leaders use it as an early warning sign that something will go off the rails later down the road and immediately move into micromanagement mode. And that’s no way to build trust and accountability amongst a team.
Having been a professional for nearly 20 years, I have a solid track record of turning words, strategies, and concepts into compelling visuals. But, I also admit there are times when the client conveys we’ve missed the mark. And while that can be disheartening, I don’t see it that way. I believe it’s just as helpful to know when we missed it as if we nailed it. (And sometimes, it winds up being more valuable than when clients “love it all” because they often don’t share feedback to continue to push the project forward meaningfully.)
Just like looking at our reflection in a mirror, there will always be elements of a first draft that we wish were different. And there are areas in which we see potential, or we can use it to our advantage. Should you not like the first draft, ask yourself why. The answer to that question tells us where we might need to look next, whether searching for more context to support our recommendation, highlighting different information to make a point, or reframing the project entirely to get to the real issue.
Seeing the first draft as perfect allows you to use it to enable progress, removes the pressure to get something exactly right out of the gate, and provides clarity to move forward. This is why, no matter what state it’s in, it’s always perfect. It enables you to make progress in the best direction.
Every day is a prototype
One of the phases design teams work through during a project is prototyping. During this phase, the team develops low-fidelity ideas of possible solutions. That could mean sketches of a logo, mockups of a product made of pipe cleaners, dowel rods, and construction paper, or versions of a keynote script written across a collection of post-it notes.
Prototypes give the team, and project stakeholders, a chance to review ideas, spot potential issues, and adjust quickly while the stakes are still reasonably low. Compared to building out a complete solution and then realizing the potentially costly (in time, money, or reputation) mistake of knowing you created something that didn’t address the core problem and needs to change.
Prototyping is a phase in the more extensive design process that aims to make things better iteratively. Through the process of iteration, we support the idea of continuous improvement. Meaning over a set period, you can see significant growth toward a goal or desired outcome. Maybe it’s a day or a year. I first heard Jay-Z ad-lib this idea in Young Forever when he said, “May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows.” It should be easy to see the connection between applying this idea to projects and people.
Leading people with an “every day is a prototype” mindset removes a lot of the pressure or guilt you, or someone you lead, may feel for not performing at their best and frees them up to grow iteratively and progress over time. This is not a blanket excuse for missing personal or professional goals. But when a team member has a bad day, misses the mark, or doesn’t get to the place they hoped, it’s a good reminder for you to take a look at what might be causing that and how best to adjust at the moment, so that they can be set back on the path toward becoming the best version of themselves.
Seeing your team and the world through the lens of every day being a prototype helps you and your team not to expect perfection but to encourage progress.
Design continues to increase its influence and prove its value to the business world. Expanding its influence into people management creates even more value with engaged teams who are collectively making progress on the things that matter most. I’m excited to see this happen and would welcome any feedback if you’ve used something similar or tried one of these with your team.