My Expectations

• Team members commit to the team and its shared vision, culture, and rules.
• Time spent not working is spent not working.
• We will not call work “done” until it is free of known issues and we would be proud to attach our names to it publicly.
• Established communication channels (e.g. group email, group IM, JIRA, Google Drive, etc.) are utilized when appropriate.

My Values

• Deliberate work that is focused on results.
• Shared responsibility.
• Open and authentic communication.
• Skepticism of all ideas, including my own.
• Adapting to change more than adhering to a rigid plan.
• Willingness to throw away work, but acknowledge the lessons learned.
• Culture and having fun are crucial components to overall team success.
• Live and die as one big team.

My Strengths

• Observing patterns of communication, and determining the best method to reach individuals.
• Making decisions rapidly enough to unblock the team. I will be wrong at times, but I prefer to give direction right then and pivot later.
• Hubris.

My Weaknesses

• Hubris.
• Difficulty conveying complex ideas with the correct context.
• Technical aspects of how design/UX teams work. My software background is in QA and Engineering, but I have some design schooling.

My Quirks and Idiosyncrasies

• I like to experiment on my teams with new processes and systems in the pursuit of kaizen.
• I’m committed to challenging any status quo that goes against my core values and beliefs.
• Not afraid to commit to what I want to try or do and I’ll back it up with context whenever possible.

My Processes

Handling Conflict

• Between me and individuals: I prefer to have one on one talks. I’ll ask what your goal in the conflicting action was. I’ll state my goal in my actions. My hope is that both of us speaking to our individual strategies can help us identify the common ground and a shared strategy when we leave the talk.
• Between me and the team: I value retrospectives, and especially those facilitated by someone else so that I can participate.
• Between members of the team: I, again, value retrospectives for this. Week to week, I determine the format for retrospective meetings based on the group dynamics for the last week. If there has been some interpersonal conflict, I prefer to hold more open-ended retrospectives for people to connect on an emotional and individual level. If we’ve been more in sync as a group, I’ll lead a more targeted session on our team processes and what we can do to improve specific items.
• In general, I value a willingness to be completely honest with me and the rest of the team, even if it’s a harsh and unsettling truth. I will never punish or think less of honesty.

Reporting Mistakes

• Mistakes are sunk costs. There’s enormous value in reflecting on them after the fact and learning how to improve for next time. But in the moment, I want to know about it as early as necessary so that we can take collective action to fix things. If it’s easier to tell me one-on-one (in person, email, IM) that’s great. When possible, however, I’d prefer it communicated directly to the group.

When you finish your user’s guide, send it to your team! Ask for feedback on what you left out or might have gotten wrong. Iterate on your guide until you feel confident that it reflects you accurately. Revisit it in the future - maybe annually - because you may find that as you evolve in your career and leadership style your values, strengths, and weaknesses will shift.