Proof of Concept - Cross-functional harmony
In any professional career rubric I've seen, there is a competency around cross-functional work. What it's called varies collaboration, cross-functional impact, etc. This growth profile is overshadowed by other competencies such as craft, leadership, and other important skills. The root cause isn't because it doesn't matter but is traditionally less emphasized. Cross-functional harmony is less tangible than other competencies but is the difference between a team making noise and wonderful music (a saying one of our principal designers shares that resonates). Cross-functional harmony goes beyond the surface level. One must go deep in cross-functional work. Scheduling a meeting once with cross-functional partners and leaving saying, "Let's find ways to work together and keep us posted" feels good, but the behavior is what actually matters, not the the attitude. Humans working as a team is one of those concepts that's existed throughout the history of humans since they were able to gather, organize, and execute. It might be a military platoon and how they organize their specialists in the squad. Perhaps it's a baseball team with unique position players with the shared responsibility of batting. This could also be a community organizer or a violinist in a symphony. The common thread of these drastically different teams is the requirement to work with other crafts different from your own. As a young designer, this realization was a rude awakening for me. I imagined professional work focused on spending time with my craft of design. Instead, I was dropped in a standup with an engineer, who I never met, telling me they were blocked by design. The next status update is a marketing manager who needs creative assets for an upcoming campaign for something I did not design. This is the reality of teamwork we aren’t taught in school but applied learning on the job. The cross-functional team of other crafts you work with is your primary team, not your craft team. When you don’t view it like this, team friction escalates quickly as it becomes an “us vs. them” mentality of warring crafts. Reps are needed to perform better as a team. A violinist practices with other violinists to get better than their part but rehearses with the rest of the orchestra to work on cross-functional harmony. The outcome is an incredible concert performance. American Football players work with their position coaches on blocking, tackling, catching, and running the football. The cross-functional harmony occurs in the scrimmage. The outcome is winning as many games as possible to earn a spot in the playoffs to win the Super Bowl. As software makers, our championship outcome is shipping delightful software for customers; often resulting in value exchanged for revenue. Our equivalent of the rehearsal and scrimmage is shipping software to ourselves. In my talk at Hatch Conference, I talked about how design impact often lives in other departments. It was one of the motivators for me to lead Marketing there. As you progress in your professional career, there is a high chance your impact expands beyond making and using your craft. Do not ever forget that the reason a person is a good design leader is because they are good at design the same way a good engineering manager is good at engineering. I’ve sat in so many meetings where a quick mockup or diagram helped unlock a team in Marketing, Recruiting, and even Executive meetings. Design impact is enabling cross-functional harmony with that design note at the right time as much as the guitar solo. Recap:
Reflect on where you're spending your time. Though you should invest time in developing your craft, make sure you have rehearsals, scrimmages, and other opportunities to work together. The time spent together turns “us vs. them” into “us” working towards outcomes together. Hyperlinks + notesA collection of references for this post, updates, and weekly reads.
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Older messages
The obsession over craft
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Issue 218: Addressing the unavoidable topic (and why it matters) ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Mentorship
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Issue 217: Thoughts on the most important relationship in your craft ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Driving stick shift
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Issue 216: The importance of manual driving in a world of copilots ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Bold strokes
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Issue 215: How watercolor painting is like work ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The office is a productivity tool
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Issue 214: Coming to the office as leverage, not attendance ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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