Michela Frecchiami

“One of the superpowers a designer has is to envision a world that doesn’t yet exist and lay out the steps to get there and make it a reality.

There’s a piece of that that means some designers never really settle for accepting reality as it is, and they do what they can to influence and shape reality into one that’s closer to what they like.”

Dan

A talented person can quickly become mediocre when you force them to be someone they aren’t.

"I was waiting for something extraordinary to happen, but as the years wasted on, nothing ever did unless I caused it.”

—Charles Bukowski

We can’t think that we’re the only ones with good ideas, that we have all the best solutions, or that there is only one way (our way) to accomplish the goals. Our egos can get in the way of our ability to respond to stakeholders effectively. There is tension here, though. Our expertise in design suggests that we should be recommending the best

Availability doesn’t mean being ready

The first design management role you have might be because you’re handed the opportunity: there is a need, the manager left/got fired, or something else. Availability does not wait for you to be ready. It asks you to give a direct answer if you will say yes to the call of duty². When I took on the responsibility

Satisfaction does not come from money, rewards, status or praise; it comes from impressing yourself. Mistaking the former for the latter is a source of enormous misery.

Julie Zhuo

The thing when designing - especially B2B tools in particular - is that there are so many guardrails and constraints to consider. This is where true creativity shines! Rather than thinking of designing within constraints as a boundary, I think we should embrace it.

For whatever action scares you (and isn’t life-threatening), remember this surefire way to eliminate the fear: do it 100 times.

Julie Zhuo