"Redesigning the design department"

Latest McKinsey report "Redesigning the design department" was a joy to read and validated a lot of my thoughts about design departments. Couple of key findings:

• Designers should fully integrate into their project, product and service teams as peers rather than act as service providers. The design department is there to provide support, training and mentorship for the designer. The project team is there to provide purpose and possibilities. This cross-functional organization maximizes the surface area of design across the business and enables greatest impact. Centralized design department is a breeding ground for scaling, accountability and trust issues within the organization.

• Old schoolish (e.g. non-agile) organizational structure doesn't mean that cross-functioning project, product and service teams are out of your reach. You can unlock design's potential without reorganizing the whole company. Don't look for excuses, just do it.

• Designers should also design the business, not just the products and services - and leadership should be calling that out to the business. As a designer, building the trust of business people from the bottom up takes too long and is risky. People move around and that trust gets reset too easily. That's why design needs a seat at the executive team - to get CEO, CFO, CHRO etc. on board.

• Designers should do more than design - although I think this applies to every member of the organization. Understandment, integration and cross-functional expertise of the business and its functions is at the core of making better decisions and attracting and retaining talent. "You have to have an equal position with the other functions before you've earned the right to challenge anyone."

Feels nice to get some outside validation for our efforts. Let's just stay on track now.

"We used to tell the designers what to do, now they're showing us what is possible — and it's so much better."