"The traits that get pathologized in corporate environments are the exact same traits that allow entrepreneurs to build things that matter. The design industry has spent years framing these instincts as a management problem."
"Design as a discipline was never meant to be purely executional and the designers who push back on decisions aren't being difficult, they're doing exactly what their training prepared them to do: hold the full complexity of a problem."
"The qualities organizations cite as concerns in performance reviews are often the exact same qualities listed as desired traits in job descriptions. Systems thinking, comfort with ambiguity, strong point of view and the ability to challenge assumptions are how companies want designers to think."
Designers frequently receive feedback labeling them as difficult or non-compliant for questioning assumptions and advocating for user-centered solutions. These traits, essential for entrepreneurship, are often mischaracterized in corporate environments. Organizations reward compliance over creativity, leading to a paradox where the qualities valued in job descriptions become liabilities in practice. This results in designers feeling pressured to conform, undermining their training and the potential for impactful design that considers human implications.
Read at Fast Company
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