I believe the premise that business leaders don't get Design is more nuanced than what gets talked about because, in my experience, there’s a difference between them “getting Design” and “getting Designers.”
My experience is this:
- The majority of business leaders I've worked with have been schooled in the idea that the key to winning is to either provide something unique or at a competitive price.
- They’ve been trained to analyze the past as a predictor of the future.
- When business leaders no longer perceive design as unique but common or ordinary, their thinking shifts from the unique value that designers can provide to the costs associated and past results with having designers on a team.
15-25 years ago, Design was unique.
The skills that designers (developers, researchers, content strategists, etc.) brought to the table were completely novel in business. Very few people knew how to make a website, an app, a prototype, a wireframe, or to "design think."
This felt innovative, fresh, inspiring, and new to business leaders. They saw upstarts having massive success with Design and designers. They wanted that for themselves and the opportunity to provide something unique to their customers far outweighed the associated costs of hiring designers.
But things have changed, not because designers no longer create unique value, but because…
- Design is no longer a novel idea to business leaders. Design methodologies are literally being used all across companies.
- The processes, operations, tools, frameworks, arguments, and reasonings that designers use are all very well-known to them.
- They've seen all the mockups, journey maps, Figma boards, workshops, Sharpies, and Post-its.
- Many business leaders know exactly how designers will show up, what they'll say, how they'll reason, what they'll argue for, and what their outputs will be. I know this because they've told me. "I know your team creates value, but at every meeting, when you or your team talk, it's the same song, second verse."
Rewriting the Rules
When I think about change, a part of me mourns. When I get good at something or start to feel comfortable, I don't want to go backward or feel like an imposter again. It's easy for me to resist changing.
But another part of me feels energized and excited because it's an opportunity to rewrite the rules, redefine the value of what I do, and reinvent myself. There's value in providing consistent, common, or ordinary things, but those aren't the things that initiate new things.
I can only speak for myself, and from my perspective. The core of what I do and how I do it have not changed that much over the years. But if I want to be in the part of business that initiates new things, I know how important it is to remember how business leaders have been schooled.
Focusing on giving fresh and unique perspectives, showing up with new talking points, incorporating unexpected tools, and giving completely different definitions of Design has been the most successful way for me to be seen as vital to business rather than just an expense.
