Design Thinking my career update
As I mentioned in the LI post I sent when I announced I was back on the market, I’ve been on an interesting journey to Design Think My Career. Practice what you preach, right?
I’ve slowly, deliberately challenged myself to incorporate a modified version of Divergent and Convergent Thinking Exercises. I started by asking myself and continually revisit:
What 3 things will open me up to wider opportunities (Divergence), and 3 do I hold as highest priority (Convergence) that I need in my next role. I’m talking broad contours, not the specific ’things’ I might do. I need a foundation that affords me wider consideration while not sacrificing the ‘big rocks’ that bring out my best.
I’ll start casting the wider net to articulate the 3 that are critical for many others but not nearly as important to me at this stage of my career.
Divergence = What I’m NOT precious about:
Title - I’ve been fortunate to have enough good titles in my career. I don’t need the vanity plates I did when I was earlier in my career. That said - lest anyone misinterpret - I’d love to be a CXO/Culture Officer at a mid-sized company. And shamelessly biased of course, but I think I’d be pretty damn good at it. That said, I genuinely DO. NOT. CARE. what my title is or where I’m matrixed in an organization.
Industry - I’ve worked in so many of them, and the fundamental nature of helping humans is the common them. So… does your company have customers, partners and employees? Do they need to be listened to and supported? Awesome, love that industry. Do you need someone that can join you to help them? Excellent. I love that industry. Are you hiring?
Salary - Do I want to make the same/more than I did in my last role? Of course I do! Like many in this field, we make a great living where that a mid-level pays the same or considerably more than front-line healthcare workers that literally put their hands in our bodies to keep us alive. I’m grateful, priveleged and satisfied with what I have now, and at a point in my career/life where I don’t need to keep climbing the hedonic treadmill. Assuming the comp is above my ‘floor’, I’m open to consideration. Bigger role/responsibility = more $, and vice versa. I just want to be paid comparable to what the role demands for that Title/Industry. If that’s 2x-3x what I was making, yeah! Alternatively, if that’s 2/3rds of what I was making, that’s good too.
An openness to title, industry and salary gives me a very wide net to find something that fits. So with that wide apeture, what am I precious about? Here I converge on my big rocks:
Convergence = Here’s what I prioritize for my next role:
Culture - Culture is big for me. Simply put, I am looking for the chance to join a culture that aligns with my principles and to contribute to its continuation. I have come to the frightening conclusion that I need to be around people sometimes. Shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that knows me, but this pesky “job seeker role” I’ve had for months been 100% remote. I do my best personal work in congress with others. I need to work with with people, and sometimes I need that to be in person. Post-COVID, I’m textbook #Hybrid now. I expect most companies that can be hybrid will be as they settle into the new ways of working. A couple of days in the office? Great. Travel to other company offices/clients half the time? Sign me up, I’m all over it. And thought that’s my work preference, I don’t expect everyone else to snap to that. FT office for some, FT remote for others. You do you. A good culture respects that. I’ve built and run a global team that started around the same time COVID did. We only every met twice as a full team in person (and that was over a year after we started). It worked, because we created a culture to make it work.
My next Leader - I need a leader that sees and supports the values of the organization and the work I / my team does within it. If my leader also is in Design/Experience, the odds are pretty good. If my leader is in another business function but truly appreciates and supports what I do, with equal consideration, that’s just as good. Leadership greatly influences our experience and growth within a role, potentially making even a challenging job rewarding and fulfilling, and ultimately contribute more to my career satisfaction than any specific tasks or responsibilities of the job itself.
Agency - As I’ve matured into this field and my role in it as a leader, I’ve become more comfortable taking risks. I describe myself as a ‘Risk Averse Bomb Thrower’. I’ve learned that the best change doesn’t come from flipping tables, but it’s important to continually seek ways to grow. And with a career seeing what work and what doesn’t, I’ve gotten much better at knowing how and when to exercise my agency to good effect. When I can make decisions that I strongly believe are in the best interests of the business, our clients and the people I serve on my team, I want the ability to act on them. Give me the proverbial rope, and hold me accountable. That validation, that faith in my agency is perhaps the strongest rocket fuel that powers me to deliver what I promise.
This is MY list. It’s not the ‘right’ one. It’s mine. And it looks a lot different than it did a decade ago.