The transition from crafting design to directing it was one of the most difficult adjustments I had to make in my career.

Years ago, I distinctly remembered thinking that being hired for a Senior Design leadership role meant the company was ready for someone like me.

During the first 18 months of one particular role, my focus was mainly on developing people, teams, and processes to help us achieve some quick product wins. And it worked... for a bit.

Suddenly, all the things that worked during that first year and a half stopped working.

The company was ready for product changes, but not for strategic ones.

The momentum my team had built stalled. I was responsible for fixing it and I was utterly stuck. I didn’t know how to move forward.

When faced with these new factors, I was tempted to rush back to design autopilot. To return to my team, our practices, and our craft because frankly, it was easier and more comfortable to do.

That choice though, wouldn't help me get unstuck.

I often think about this pattern: how I’ve always felt different as a leader inside an organization because I was a designer. How frustrated and isolated I’ve felt at times — especially when my peers and leadership labeled my work as pretty or the final step.

How easy it was to blame the organization or my colleagues for not understanding me.

What I want to say to designers in such situations today, it’s essential to know that design can solve many things, but it’s not the only solution.

When taking on leadership roles, we often feel overwhelmed by a firehose of foreign information, processes, ceremonies, personalities, and unwritten rules.

It’s understandable that when faced with these new factors, we rush back to design autopilot. We return to our teams, our practices, and our craft because frankly, it’s easier and more comfortable to do.

And yet, when we go on autopilot, we may feel stuck without a clear forward path and subsequently struggle to find the joy we once had in our work.

In each phase of our career, we are faced with a new firehose of responsibilities. It is overwhelming.

I’ve found in my research and in my work, the most significant jump for many is moving from crafting design to directing it.

By exposing ourselves to small amounts of discomfort, we build up our tolerance to all things new and avoid being overwhelmed by the firehose.

The more we expose ourselves to the tools, ceremonies, processes of others, the higher chance we have to meet our own expectations.

The more we practice our new skills, the greater chance we have to hold leadership accountable for the changes they say they so desperately want and need.

The more we hold leadership accountable, the more relief we feel as design leaders, and the better we can serve others.

Sometimes, the only way to break free from the status quo is to break free from our own status quo. https://www.ryanrumsey.com/words/i-was-directing-design-and-i-was-utterly-stuck