Summary
Details to come.
Key Insights
-
•
Starting meetings or classes with a warm-up activity, like drawing a spiral, helps participants become present and engaged.
-
•
Remote teaching often results in students keeping cameras off, which impacts presence and engagement.
-
•
Peloton inspired leadership lessons including the value of warm-ups, clear goals, compassion, collaboration, community support, and consistency.
-
•
Being present is critical to focus during meetings, workouts, or teaching despite digital distractions.
-
•
Compassion involves respecting different preferences, like some people disliking ‘high fives’ in Peloton classes.
-
•
Inclusion requires consistent educational opportunities beyond one-off training sessions.
-
•
Leaders must acknowledge external events and trauma affecting team members to create empathetic workplace cultures.
-
•
Intersectionality demands leaders reflect on their own privilege and share emotional labor rather than placing it all on marginalized groups.
-
•
Language matters; everyday phrases may be exclusionary or ableist and should be monitored and corrected.
-
•
Hope is a necessary quality for leadership; without it, leadership lacks direction and motivation.
Notable Quotes
"Always do a warm up before exercise, meetings, or teaching to get people ready for what’s about to come."
"The class time is your time — be present to that moment."
"Collaboration is key because I’m never alone in a Peloton class, even at 4:30 in the morning."
"We have to acknowledge where people are and where they’re coming from; identities are not monolithic."
"Trainings are useful, but they aren’t enough; consistent opportunities for education and awareness are critical."
"Top leadership must model taking an intersectional approach through investments and actions."
"It’s not the responsibility of marginalized groups to do all the work educating others on their experiences."
"Watch your language — many everyday words are ableist, exclusionary, and offensive to marginalized communities."
"Do you have hope for the future? If not, you should reconsider being a leader."
"Accessibility and inclusion need to be part of every designer’s role, not just a specialist’s job."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Development requests were often pragmatic—shadowing, mentoring, and reviewing—not big training courses."
Shaping design, designers and teams
November 8, 2018
"We are not a circus juggling nine balls; we focus on two to avoid cognitive overload and achieve meaningful output."
Sabrina Mach Nina WainwrightHow to Design Your Design Operating Model
September 29, 2021
"AI isn’t naturally testable like traditional code, so service design will become even more important."
Samuel ProulxInvisible barriers: Why accessible service design can’t be an afterthought
December 3, 2024
"You can’t just throw another tool at accessibility problems; training and culture are just as important."
Saara Kamppari-MillerDesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility (Videoconference)
May 26, 2022
"Product design and development can often mirror what happens in a chef’s kitchen: lots of coordination and spinning plates behind the scenes."
Briana ThomasThe Quiet Force: Uncovering Hidden Leadership in High-Impact Design Teams
September 24, 2024
"I wish I could tell my 22-year-old self what to stop doing and what to embrace to be a better designer."
Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan WorthmanDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"We had to partner closely with information security to ensure every piece of data in research files was tracked and compliant."
Operationalizing DesignOps
November 7, 2018
"You cannot be emotionally attached to whether or not anyone implements your advice — it’s out of your control once given."
Leah Buley Joe NatoliAsk Me Anything with Leah Buley and Joe Natoli, co-authors of The User Experience Team of One (2nd edition)
October 8, 2024
"Tell tight, brief stories of insights focused on impact, not on how you conducted your research."
Nathan ShedroffDouble Your Mileage: Use Your Research Strategically
March 31, 2020