[TMA] New year, same me
From the sofa of Peter Merholz—
Tuning back in after a delightful and restorative end of the year break.
New episode of Finding Our Way
First item of business: The latest Finding Our Way is up, featuring Peter Skillman, head of design for 100+ year old Dutch technology firm Philips (and formerly of IDEO, Palm Computing, Microsoft, and Amazon). Philips’ story is fascinating, remaking itself from a consumer electronics company to a leading health tech provider. Throughout, design has been a core competency. Peter shared with us his hands-on approach to leading design in such a large organization, the agenda he’s established, how he engages the CEO, and how the “big design freak out” says more about design leaders than the state of design.
Listen: Apple Podcasts. Spotify. Any podcatcher.
Read: Complete transcript.
Perhaps his most provocative quote, at least for Design types:
No design leader should report to the CEO. It is way better being one layer away. It means you have an escalation path. It means that you’re not pulled into a lot of discussions that are not relevant to ensuring you raise the bar.
January 10: Serious goofing with Hang Xu
You’re likely familiar with Hang Xu, a designer, design recruiter, and LinkedIn provocateur. He and I are conducting a LinkedIn Live on January 10 (9am Pacific, 12n ET, 5pm UK) to rank the design maturity and prestige of various companies (FAANG, Fortune 50, signature hyperscales, AI startups, and more), where I’ll bring my unique perspective, drawn from decades of experience (and knowing people in so, so many organizations). The plan is to keep it light, but also very much keep it real.
Are you coming to Toronto January 29-30?
I’m helping organize the Design Leadership Summit, featuring not only a stellar lineup of presenters, but we’re setting aside ~2 hours each day for constructive conversations about the challenges faced by the community.
And I’m teaching a heavily updated version of my Design Leadership Masterclass on January 28. This is my third year, and it’s always an enlightening discussion.
Take care, and have a Happy New Year!
—peter