Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Summary
From finding our balance between ambiguity, process intensity, scaling efficiency, and velocity to enhancing creativity, innovation, and craft, there’s no shortage of stories we can tell as DesignOps managers. But do we do it well enough? Are we reaching the people that we need to reach with our stories? Jon Fukuda will lead this month's DesignOps Community videoconference through the importance of storytelling in DesignOps and why it matters now, more than ever.
Key Insights
-
•
Effective storytelling in design ops requires revealing personal struggle and vulnerability to build authentic connection and trust.
-
•
Design operations acts as a disruptive force challenging decades-old engineering paradigms, necessitating careful narrative framing.
-
•
Resistance to change in organizations is real, physiological, and tied to identity, not just abstract opposition.
-
•
The difference between story and strategic narrative is scale; narratives thread multiple stories into a larger vision that inspires collective action.
-
•
Narratives should make the audience the hero to foster empathy and help them adopt the new vision as their own.
-
•
Leading with emotion and context primes audiences to accept data as proof rather than skepticism.
-
•
Change initiatives often fail due to lack of narrative ownership—if you don’t command your story, others will tell it for you.
-
•
Storytelling must balance disruption with respect so as not to alienate key stakeholders or trigger defensive reactions.
-
•
Currencies of influence beyond cash include authenticity, relationships, motivation, and situational authority.
-
•
Storytelling is an iterative design challenge requiring prototyping, testing, listening, and refining to engage diverse audiences.
Notable Quotes
"The heart of the storyteller is actually the heart of the story."
"Design ops is a change leadership function because you often have no formal authority over the people you need to influence."
"If you haven’t taken command and control of your story someone else has, and it’s likely not the story you want to be told."
"Resistance is real — it’s not an abstract concept — and it’s tied to people’s biochemical and emotional response to change."
"You can be right without making others wrong."
"People will forget what you said, they’ll forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel."
"The art of storytelling is the ability to talk about difficult subjects in a way that still leaves people feeling good."
"Disruption and innovation are really the same thing — if you’re not willing to disrupt the status quo, how will you drive innovation?"
"Your role as a storyteller is to be the tour guide of your new world, making others feel at home in it."
"You need to earn your audience’s emotional investment — stories that don’t connect emotionally won’t succeed."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"I have to triangulate socially because Yorkshire folks are quite reserved; they won't openly admit issues."
Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan WorthmanDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"Playing politics in UX leadership is about maximizing relationships ethically to advance your agenda, not about being underhanded."
Peter MerholzThe Trials and Tribulations of Directors of UX (Videoconference)
July 13, 2023
"Governance isn’t about choking creativity, it’s about putting bounds and clarity that enable purposeful collaboration."
Lisa WelchmanCleaning Up Our Mess: Digital Governance for Designers
June 14, 2018
"Green spaces in cities can greatly enhance our quality of life and resilience."
Vincent BrathwaiteOpener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
October 22, 2020
"OKRs are a tool for each of us to tidy our house and focus on what’s important."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"Most organizations are still asking design questions at a global level; we need to be hyper-local now."
Tricia WangSpatial Collapse: Designing for Emergent Culture
January 8, 2024
"Delivering research in small, lean increments allowed us to iterate fast and reduce bias."
Edgar Anzaldua MorenoUsing Research to Determine Unique Value Proposition
March 11, 2021
"We want to build teams with diverse skill sets so we can create a full picture during the knowledge creation phase."
Designing Systems at Scale
November 7, 2018
"Design is the rendering of intent — bringing ideas into a form people can interact with to solve problems, as Jared Spool said."
Erin WeigelGet Your Whole Team Testing to Design for Impact
July 24, 2024
