Thought Leader

Welcome back to our Design at Scale — Academy series, focusing on the design practice in a team of ten. Once you define your team’s network, you will be more likely to succeed as a Thought Leader. Understanding the networks allows you to become a unique point of reference, in this case, a thought leader; the business has a profound impact.

Artillery

Before you start, you have to have some ammunition to use to succeed. The easiest and probably the most practical way to create a design artillery and, therefore, a source of your wisdom is to start serving the existing team with their day-to-day needs.

Don’t tell me that the developer doesn’t need the diagram that communicates the impact of the deployment system. There is also the business analyst we’re looking to visualise some PowerPoints for his boss. There is also a researcher who is trying to visualise competitive analysis for the following meeting. There is equally a scrum master or product owner who still needs to create a presentation for the board and doesn’t know how to use the keynote. All of these are translated as opportunities for you to step in and communicate what the design can do the best — the story.