Summary
Design and research-driven leaders have evolved from being responsible for executing design concepts to having a crucial role in driving change across organizations. This is welcome progress, but with greater responsibility comes new challenges, especially when it comes to championing change in organizations likely to resist it. As design and research-driven changemakers have risen in the ranks of business, they’ve “learned on the job,” experiencing both setbacks and victories. We captured many of these learnings by interviewing over 40 design leaders and incorporating their shared wisdom in our book, Changemakers: How Leaders Can Design Change in an Insanely Complex World. Whether these leaders worked at IBM and Google, a US government agency, or a small consulting firm, their insights and observations are applicable to all and well-worth considering. This presentation will offer an overview of what we learned. It will cover the top mistakes changemakers make as they navigate the messy processes and people issues involved in driving any type of change. You'll learn how to determine the ground conditions needed for success, how to find and align supporters, how to minimize detractors, and how to repurpose design tools, frameworks, and techniques to your advantage. Maria Giudice is the co-author of Changemakers: How Leaders Can Design Change in an Insanely Complex World.
Key Insights
-
•
The role of design leaders has evolved from product delivery to shaping organizational culture at scale.
-
•
Changemakers must assess 'ground conditions' like executive support and resources before accepting leadership roles.
-
•
Rushing into change without understanding the organization's history and culture ('coming in too hot') often generates resistance.
-
•
Building a shared vision requires inclusive collaboration where all stakeholders feel heard and represented.
-
•
Prioritization and focus on a few small wins prevent burnout and enable sustainable change.
-
•
Tools like the impact matrix help teams evaluate effort versus impact to choose projects wisely.
-
•
Vision without execution is futile; delivering tangible outcomes with prototyping and milestones is essential.
-
•
Failure is inevitable in change leadership; embracing mistakes with courage leads to growth and innovation.
-
•
Visual communication techniques enhance stakeholder understanding and trust during complex change efforts.
-
•
Changemakers don’t necessarily need formal design training but must adopt design as a mindset and problem-solving strategy.
Notable Quotes
"The best future leaders will embody the qualities and traits of a DEO — design executive officer — creative business leaders at the intersection of design and business."
"Change is fundamentally a design problem and therefore change can be designed."
"Before you accept a mission as a changemaker, ask yourself do you have a clear directive, champion support, and the right resources?"
"Coming in too hot means running into a burning building like a firefighter, ignoring past work, and rushing without listening."
"Nobody wants to be told to do your thing unless it’s clear that it helps their thing. It’s just human nature."
"Don’t boil the ocean. Get small wins before you go for the big change."
"You need maniacal focus to prioritize, but remain flexible as priorities will always change."
"Vision without execution is hallucination. You must make outcomes tangible and measurable."
"Failure sucks and hurts, but if you haven’t failed, you haven’t taken enough risks."
"When you hit the bottom, that’s where creativity flourishes and it’s time to iterate, evolve, and redesign."
Dig deeper—ask the Rosenbot:
More Videos
"Getting internal teams on board is often the biggest challenge, but once they see the value, it lights a fire."
Tracy McGoldrickIBM User Experience Program—The What, Why and How
October 15, 2021
"Ethics must live in the practitioner; companies are not people and cannot embody ethics without individuals choosing to do so."
Mariah HayEthics in Tech Education: Designing to Provide Opportunity for All
June 14, 2018
"If you think fossil fuel companies are going to help us solve this, then we probably have a very different idea of how this system works."
Max Gadney Andrea Petrucci Joshua Stehr Hannah WickesAssessing UX jobs for impact in climate
August 14, 2024
"Democratization of research is not just about scaling capacity but about fostering collaboration."
Jane DavisStrategic Shifts and Innovations in User Research: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities
March 11, 2025
"The relational dynamics of knowledge are shifting from hierarchical and linear to relational and plural."
Jemma AhmedResearch at an inflection point: Adapting to a new era of collaboration, equity, and innovation
March 11, 2025
"Trying to convince with more data when the 'emergency brake' is on won’t work — emotional barriers must be addressed first."
Andrew WebsterScaling Design Capability: How Involved Should You Be?
September 30, 2021
"Many of us need to catch up with how to position ourselves earlier rather than later in the coming AI landscape."
Erin MaloneUnderstanding the past to prepare for the future
July 19, 2024
"Shapers combine human and machine intelligence and amplify each other’s strengths."
Tricia WangFrom Users to Shapers of AI: The Future of Research
March 25, 2024
"Everybody does better when everybody does better."
Deanna ZandtThe Unspoken Complexity of “Self-Care” with Deanna Zandt
July 21, 2022
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What are the benefits of generating interactive UI prototypes directly in code with AI assistance?
How does continuous optimization through AI help prioritize digital asset improvements based on persona insights?
How often should AI products be evaluated and iterated upon once deployed in production?