There are three common paths into Design Management. Either you start at the bottom and work your way up, you take on a stretch project that elevates you above your peers, or you hit a glass ceiling and are forced to jump ship.
The digital sector is a talent led industry, and as much as I dislike the idea of the 10X developer, the difference a great hire can make to your business is huge. So I’m always amazed when I hear about the shady, sloppy or downright atrocious recruitment practices we inflict on prospective candidates.
I recently started a Slack Team for Design Leaders. We currently have over 1,750 members (as of Jan 1st 2021); mostly Heads, Directors and VPs of Design from prominent tech companies and large traditional organisations.
I meet a lot of in-house designers in the course of my travels and the same frustrations keep bubbling up - "how can I convince the company I work for to take my expertise seriously". It seems that companies have a pathology of hiring highly talented people but taking away the decision making abilities they need to do their job.
A few evenings ago I watched a really interesting TED talk by Barry Schwartz on practical wisdom.