Becoming a Changemaker by Leading with Design
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."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"For early career UXers, compassion could be as simple as expressing gratitude for help."
Laine Riley ProkayHow DesignOps can Drive Inclusive Career Ladders for All
September 30, 2021
"Awareness leads to feeling stuck because we don’t know what to do or don’t feel empowered to act."
Victor UdoewaBeyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion
March 26, 2024
"The scale of the enterprise combined with AI’s power has earth-shattering implications."
Husani OakleyTheme Three Intro
June 6, 2023
"Changing outcomes means changing incentives on all fronts to shift the culture effectively."
Jess GrecoCreating a Basis for Change: Scaling Design Maturity
June 8, 2022
"Synthetic data created by AI—like fake personas and journeys—is super derivative and often not insightful."
Shipra KayanMake your research synthesis speedy and more collaborative using a canvas
January 24, 2025
"Founders are hard to recruit for research, so showing genuine interest by solving their problems helps turn them into advocates."
Prayag Narula Abhinav KrishnaDialing for Research: How to Reach the Unreachable
March 10, 2022
"When blind users choose between Android and iPhone, they weigh trade-offs between stability and customizability."
Sam ProulxUnderstanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
June 6, 2023
"Controls like insurance qualifiers and legal agreements were necessary guardrails for this new way of working."
Amy EvansHow to Create Change
September 25, 2024
"No one knows how to cook with the new ingredients of technology yet, and that’s why we face ambiguity and uncertainty."
Greg PetroffEverything is About to Change: Software as Material
June 8, 2016
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
Why is it rare for people to explicitly ask for more power at work or in projects?
What does the builder team model with AI in the loop look like compared to traditional product teams?
What new workflows or tools have been effective in bridging the gap between design, engineering, and product teams using AI?