This short article could easily fall under the motivational category, but I couldn’t help but draw parallels to what we do as designers when working as part of a product team.

Hazel Weakly says that people who see systems also tend to become in charge of them, sooner or later. And to be a leader is to “understand that you’ll find yourself stranded in the middle of the ocean one day.”

Not just you, but everyone you lead. And you’ll need to chart a course. In the ever-changing winds, the ever-shifting tides, the unknown weather, and with an inability to see up or down or basically anywhere except a few minutes away. You won’t have the time to find your bearings even if you could. Yet, somehow, in this sea of swirling and infinite complexities and probabilities, in the midst of incalculable odds, you will find yourself needing to have simultaneously several different things…

The first thing is that you will fail. I equate this to knowing that design is about trial and error, testing and measuring, and then adjusting.

The second thing is unshakable conviction that “you will succeed.” I see success as solving the problem, coming up with a solution that helps users do what they need. And you know what? Designers will succeed when they follow the design process.

Finally, the third thing is to “prepare and make ready everyone around you.” Which means influencing your product and engineering counterparts and other stakeholders that the solution your advocating for is the right one.