Lessons from the Front Lines
I’ve been producing websites and digital experiences for years. Much of what I know now I have learned the hard way. But as they say, failures are lessons. Here are some of the most valuable ones I’ve learned in my 12 years of building websites, strategies, companies, and teams:
Be strategic. If you have no strategy, you are playing a carnival game. You’ll think you can win, but in the end you’re just throwing balls hoping that something lands successfully.
Project plans are useless, but honesty, accountability and transparency is priceless.
Constraints are healthy. Embrace them!
To lead is to serve. You work for your team, not the other way around.
Telling the right story changes the entire experience.
Tackle the toughest problem first, or it’ll come back to you at the most inopportune time!
Throw out most of your ideas. they are poop, but there’s a diamond in there somewhere.
The most important ideas often come from the most unexpected places. Listen. Always.
Give more value than you consume.
Sometimes you want a teddy bear, but you get a porcupine. Hugging the porcupine harder won’t turn it into a teddy bear. You’ve got to let go.
When the team feels defeated, that’s when they need your positivity the most. Pull it together!
Job titles limit people. many people have amazing strengths beyond their titles that they haven’t yet discovered.
Seek to impress those next to you, not those above you.
As a Designer, you are never finished. You can’t afford to stop learning.
Titles don’t make leaders.
The quality of your output depends on the quality of your inputs. Be intentional with the media you consume daily.
When the team is working late, you work late. Bring gummy bears.
Design for your audience, not for your portfolio.
Look around you and identify who you can learn from and who you can help. Then make yourself available to those people!
You know how to accomplish more than you think.
Try to understand that your client’s reputation depends on you delivering a successful product. Be proactive in earning their confidence and trust in you.
It’s important to have fun!
If there is a culture of working late to meet tight deadlines, it’s time to examine your operational approaches. People burn out, and overworking damages people and the bottom-line.
Appreciate the people around you. Appreciation is an action, not just a feeling.
The process matters more than the end product. What could you do differently to improve the process next time?
You don’t have to be good at everything. Accept your weaknesses, surround yourself with people who compliment you, and you’ll be free to focus on your strengths.
Be a student of your world, always.
