Key Insights

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  Integrative roles like service design and product management face unique cognitive, emotional, and boundary-spanning challenges.

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  Organizational maturity is not linear; fast, product-led companies can learn from slower, service-design mature companies and vice versa.

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  Current organizational pressures emphasize efficiency and simplification, often risking oversimplification harmful to integrative roles.

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  Using metaphors like rivers helps integrators understand flows of power, obstacles, and safety in navigating organizational change.

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  Oxbow lakes metaphor warns integrators against becoming isolated units during disruptive external 'floods' or organizational shifts.

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  Estuaries symbolize the dynamic, boundary-crossing collaborations that foster creativity but require protection due to sensitivity.

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  There is a prevalent 'battle of the models' across disciplines; embracing diverse models and finding commonalities is more productive than forcing consensus.

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  Reading wider organizational and external 'currents' reduces myopia and helps integrative roles avoid burnout or isolation.

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  Patient opportunism—leveraging existing currents and opportunities—is a sustainable strategy for integrators over constant resistance.

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  Critical architectural and technological decisions often happen without service design involvement, highlighting collaboration gaps to address.

Notable Quotes