I’m just finishing up my Farewell Tour of nine of our global design studios en route to my retirement at the end of next week. I’m just in Austin, Texas this week and will finish up next week in Toronto. During these studio visits, I hold 1:1 meetings, roundtable meetings, lunches and dinners, and I also do a presentation reflecting on my career and providing key lessons and advice. Many of you have asked if I could share that information so I’ve summarized it in this blog post. I also plan to share a version of it on my Life Habits Podcast soon.
Overview
I was recruited into IBM directly from my PhD program after I had presented at a conference about research that I conducted that I developed into a new paradigm for design. Someone from IBM called to ask, “have you ever considered working for IBM?” I answered honestly, “no, but I’m willing to consider it”. I agreed to consider it because I had recently read about Thomas J Watson Sr, the founder of IBM, and the values he espoused for the company like respect for the individual and the importance of community. Those values led me to go for the meeting and to agree to join IBM.
I initially intended to stay for a year but that turned into 36 because I thoroughly enjoyed both the challenges I was given or I chose and the support I was provided to apply my knowledge and craft in addressing them. I was headhunted many times for prestigious positions at other top companies but I stayed at IBM given the company’s values and also because I believed that my job wasn’t done. That job was to transform all parts of the company to be user- and client-centered in creating industry-lead products and services and in inspiring clients to purchase them. I believe that job is now largely done and I’ve decided to retire from IBM. You can read more about my career on my website.
I’ve been so fortunate in my career and I’ve always believed in giving back. I’ve mentored many hundreds of employees, and have hosted my Life Habits Podcast for 16 years. I’d now like to share with you the life and career lessons I learned and I hope will be helpful to you too. I’ve included links that you can pursue if you’re particularly interested digging deeper into a topic.
Understand the business
Whether you’re a developer, product manager, designer, researcher, or any other specialist, I believe that it’s important to understand the company you’re joining. Learn about what value your company provides to its users and clients, who the competitors are and how your company stacks up, what the challenges are, and how the company makes money and how much. You need to learn how to read earnings reports, how the company is organized and how your team fits into the whole, what values your company espouses, and how you can improve your skills and experience to even better serve the company in its mission. Doing all of that will enable you to have maximum impact on the success of the company.
Find purpose in your role
Most people feel better about the work they do if they’re doing it for a higher purpose than simply making money for the company. I believe that every role has such a purpose and it’s important to recognize yours and keep it in focus when doing your work. If you’re a UX researcher, designer, developer, or product manager in a company like IBM that serves the enterprise market, your purpose should be to make the work lives of the users you serve more productive and enjoyable. If you do that, those users will be more effective which in turn makes their companies more successful, all leading to the company wanting to do more business with IBM. If you’re in a sales role, your purpose is to help decision-makers in client companies be successful in purchasing the right products and services to make them successful, which in turn leads to not just the one sale but building trust for future sales as well. If you’re in an internal function whether human resources, finance, technology support, your purpose is to improve the work lives of the employees in your company that you support.
Amp up how you show up on video
We all learned out of necessity to use video conferencing systems during the pandemic. With most companies now adopting a hybrid work approach, typically with three days in the office and two at home, most of us still use these systems regularly. However, I suggest that many people aren’t using this medium effectively. I think you should amp up how you show up on video including your room setup, the equipment you use, and how you interact. Check out a couple of the blog posts I’ve written that give more details, video calls: amp up how you show up and unlock your influence in a hybrid world.
Practice authentic listening
Stephen R. Covey said, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply”. Your relationships with family, friends, and colleagues will be dramatically improved if you listen authentically and listen more than you talk. This is also a key ingredient to further develop your Emotional Intelligence or EQ which I think is at least as important to career success and happiness in life as your IQ.
Champion diversity and inclusion
Teams are more creative and typically better represent the audience they are serving when they are more diverse in every way and actively strive to be inclusive. Diversity is about bringing people with different life experiences together, while inclusion ensures everyone feels valued and can fully participate. A great resource for this is the Advancing Racial Equity in Design: A Field Guide for Managers and Leaders that was created by IBM’s Racial Equity in Design group. While it’s focused on managers and leaders, the advice is appropriate for everyone.
Be a lifelong learner, learn from others, and share what you learned
It’s incredibly important to be aware of what’s going on in the world more generally as well as regarding developments in your field. Be curious. And be a lifelong learner. I listen to a news podcast twice a day about world events and design and technology podcasts too to keep up on developments in my field, and I read about two books a week on a wide variety of topics (I actually listen to them at twice the speed). I also learn so much from my colleagues and I believe that we should share our ideas openly inside your own organization as well as publicly external to your organization as well in blogs, on podcasts, at conferences, etc. Collaborating with others on ideas is the best way to hone and further develop them and it’s also key to you developing your own eminence or digital brand which is often key to more senior promotions.
Future proof your career, create an aspirational resume, and do career workouts
Don’t rely exclusively on educational institutions preparing you for the world of today and especially not tomorrow. (see an initiative I co-led to address this). People often jump on the latest hot discipline or career not realizing that it may not be around in a few years. Use the Strategic Foresight techniques of horizon scanning to think about the trends you’re seeing and the demographic and technological signals too in order to see the importance of the discipline and career you’re considering or are in and whether it will still be around in the future. You need to take responsibility for future-proofing your career yourself as much as you can. Strategic Foresight is a great way to do that. The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz will get you started on this. Another great practice is what I call writing your aspirational resume. Write into your existing resume in a different color what you would like it to include within the next year and write it as if it has been completed. That will then motivate you to make it real. And you can stay focussed on your career directions and on what you need to do to achieve them by doing what I call Career Workouts. Most people either go to the gym or workout regularly or if they don’t, they know that they should regarding their physical fitness and health. However, we don’t do the same regarding our career fitness and health. I think we should borrow from the physical health field and use those same techniques to strengthen our careers.
Feed your soul, be a change agent, and unplug
I think it’s important to focus on your mental health. In my experience, while I feed my wallet with my job, I’ve always tried to also feed my soul through my involvement in activities and organizations outside of the company. I’m passionate about addressing climate change, animal and human suffering, food insecurity, human illness, and biodiversity loss. I also lean into the statement that many people utter, “someone should do something about that”. I say, “why not me”? I co-founded the Covid19 Design Challenge and the Future of Design Education. I also created our family web site on plant-based living, advocate for it on social media, served as a VP of the board of directors of a nonprofit, and just recently launched the UX/R for Good project with Carly Williams.
In order to do all of that, I also recommend that you to take breaks, unplug from technology, and have a digital detox. We’re now so wedded to our digital devices and much of that is great in my view. However, I believe that it’s also important to find times during the day or at least the week when you totally unplug from technology. Engage in mindfulness and meditation, long walks or runs, or other ways of recharging your body and mind. My recommendation is to schedule these breaks and then actually take them. Your body and mind will thank you.
I hope these lessons are as helpful to you as they were and are to me. I wish you all the best in your careers and life. Feel free to share this post with anyone who may find it helpful.