What I Learned from Teaching

(and how it’s made me better at my job)

I first set my sights on becoming a professor after graduating from Parsons with a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Design and Technology. At the time, joining a post-secondary faculty felt like the perfect (and only) way to stay connected to my research. In my current role as Product Design Manager at Auth0, I see that teaching afforded me far more than that, it has made me much better at my job.

Leadership

When I started my career at a small start-up with a design team of only 2, there weren’t many opportunities to hone my leadership skills. Teaching gave me a head start by way of drinking through the proverbial fire hose. Suddenly, I was in front of 100 aspiring young designers for 3 hours every week. I worked hard to create a learning environment that would thrive on creating and sharing work. My intent was to facilitate a classroom experience where meeting in small groups to provide constructive feedback was commonplace.

I developed my leadership skills by choosing to deliver feedback in a way that inspired my students rather than vanquishing their creativity. I learned how to ask the right questions to truly understand what they were trying to achieve through their work, and then leaned on my expertise as a designer to help them bring that vision to life. Now, as a people manager of a team of product designers, I use the same leadership skills I’ve developed through teaching to create a supportive environment where anyone can deliver transparent feedback in the spirit of continuous improvement and working toward a shared goal.

Mentorship

Even before becoming a manager, working as a product designer armed me with real life case studies and a practical perspective when it came to the topics covered in my courses. These experiences that I was living day-to-day served as both inspiring parables and cautionary tales. I attribute the influx of portfolio review requests and interview prep advice that I would receive at the end of each semester to this experience. I found myself teaching more than just a design curriculum; my practical experience and perspective afforded me the opportunity to mentor young designers as they navigated their careers. Teaching has made me more adept at helping others identify their strengths as well as identify areas for growth — both areas that help me ensure both my students and the designers on my team continue growing personally and professionally.

Fostering Collaboration

In conjunction with leadership and mentorship, my teaching experience shined a light on the gift and curse that collaboration can sometimes be. I oversaw dozens of groups at a given time; all with their own unique dynamics as they worked toward a common goal. When groups were stuck, in disagreement, or perhaps veering off course, I dug deep into my toolkit to get them back on track:

• Establish decision criteria that gives every group member an equal voice and reduces subjectivity.
• Provide structured brainstorming techniques and workshops to help teams renew their excitement and re-invest in their work, together.
• Guide groups toward establishing ownership over different parts of the project and set clear expectations and deliverables.

These tools can be helpful whether you’re holding a group critique, putting a workshop together, or trying to establish a shared understanding. At Auth0, one of our guiding values is One team, One score. No matter what team you’re on, collaboration is key to how we succeed as a team.

Delivering better design

There’s nothing like standing in front of a full cohort of 4th year students for the first time to remind you that Imposter Syndrome is very real. I remember just trying to get through the content without someone calling out a misstep or asking a question I didn’t have the answer to. It took time for me to build my confidence and trust the fact that I knew what I was talking about, and that what I had to offer would be of value to the students in my class. Teaching in an industry like tech, things change quickly. Every semester, I need to revise my content in consideration of the latest trends, tools, and practices. Further, every semester students come back from internships and summer jobs at companies in various industries all over the world. This experience helps us understand how different design teams work, as well as develop a more robust understanding of how different companies derive value from design. This keeps me pursuing the cutting-edge of our field and deepens the connection to my work. Lastly, lecturing has refined my presentation skills while simultaneously reading a room. Scanning levels of engagement and gauging an audience’s understanding will become second nature to you, if you do it enough.

Getting started

It can be challenging to find teaching opportunities. However, I’ve learned that if you’re creative in your search and passionate about your craft, there will always be an opportunity for you. As a lecturer and ambassador for the university, I’m always on the lookout for relevant guest speakers to join my class. Try pitching a guest lecture to a program director or a lecturer who is teaching a course in your area of expertise. Connect with secondary schools as well; for the last couple of years, I’ve volunteered as an industry mentor for an Entrepreneurship course at my old High School.

I also want to acknowledge that all boats rise with the tides — I’ve benefited tremendously from the managers who supported and encouraged me to pursue teaching. Don’t get me wrong, balancing two jobs is not easy, and there have been many times that I’ve questioned all that’s on my plate. Now, as a manager I’m very intentional about fostering a similarly supportive and encouraging environment for my team. I’ve seen first hand how creating the space and opportunity for people to pursue their passions can grow and develop them in ways that are not always readily available at work.

What I talk about in the classroom and what I do at work have always been related, with one directly impacting the other. Because of this harmonious intersection it is only fitting that I now work alongside one of my very first students at Auth0.