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Summary
To be an effective design leader requires knowing about the business, but does it require an MBA? Maybe it’s more about exerting influence by leveraging simple models of behavioral science and persuasion to achieve outcomes—and doing it without losing your soul. Join us for an enlightening approach to achieving our goals as designers, in a fireside chat with Ryan Rumsey, Chief Executive Officer, Second Wave Dive. He shares his own journey from Apple to Electronic Arts (EA) and beyond as a design leader learning how to gain effective influence with “the business” side of things.
Key Insights
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Organizations with separate profit and loss centers create political challenges for cross-functional collaboration.
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Empathy for colleagues’ goals and pressures is as important as empathy for end users.
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Using familiar business storytelling structures like 'situation-complication-resolution' helps communicate more effectively with executives.
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Influence in business is often based on relationships, trust, and street smarts rather than formal MBA training.
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Remixing existing frameworks rather than inventing new ones can boost credibility and adoption within organizations.
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Successful organizational change takes years, not months, requiring patience and consistency.
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Design maturity should align with the organization's business model and context instead of imitating elite case studies like Apple.
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Trust-building early wins (such as delivering projects on time and budget) are critical to gaining influence.
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Understanding and discussing business metrics and risks concretely allows designers to better influence decision makers.
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Teams behave more like developing individuals needing facilitation to align ambition and collaboration effectively.
Notable Quotes
"A conference is a polished snapshot of a broader conversation happening at scale."
"Apple is essentially one P&L unit which forces collaboration across hardware, software, and services."
"Many executives make decisions based on gut or what has worked in the past, not just MBA principles."
"We have to understand our colleagues as humans, not just as job roles."
"Remixing what you know is often more effective than trying to blow everything up with new methods."
"Trust is built by being dependable: on time and on budget with your first project."
"Change is scary because it sounds personal, but innovation requires change."
"We don’t just need to know the language of business but the structures of how executives communicate."
"Design is inherently contextual and must align with the organization’s strategy and model."
"Influence is about situational awareness and curiosity, not confrontation."
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