Those who lead by example show their team the way to do the job at hand, but are limited by their own knowledge. Those that lead by design create a framework that enables their team to discover a multitude of ways for themselves.

Designing high-performance creative in-house design teams has simultaneously been the biggest challenge and source of joy from across my entire career thus far, and to this day is one of the biggest factors in getting me out of bed in morning.

In my previous article I mentioned the two independently successfully in-house design teams I have built over the last decade. These two teams belonged to different companies, but share a lot of characteristics. Namely being renowned as high-performance teams, with their own carefully crafted organisational culture and spirit. Fiercely loyal designers, low churn rates, with each team member feeling empowered and respected to bring their authentic self to the studio every day.

When the time came for a new challenge and I began building my second in-house design team, I thought I had my design team leadership playbook all fleshed out. However, both in-house design teams have been led in radically different styles and my approach continues to evolve to this day. I refer to my current approach as leading by design.

For both in-house design teams I either created or changed the team organisational structure, creative process, and organisational culture dramatically. During my tenure at the helm of my first in-house design team I was working alongside my designers. I was one of them, I was taking on as much work as I could handle and working later than anyone else, even sleeping on an air bed on the office floor at times. One occasion I even worked 32 hours straight! I had little time for design strategy, or a long term vision outside of the project at hand. I led in what I believed at the time to be the most compelling, direct, and supportive way possible; by example.

Today I lead my team with the same passion, authenticity, support and intent, but in a very different manner; by design. Those who lead by design do not necessary create, nor are involved in all key decisions to get the project at hand done. Those who lead by example show their team the way to do the job at hand, but are limited by their own knowledge. Those that lead by design create a framework that enables their team to discover a multitude of ways for themselves. When finely tuned and nurtured correctly to the designers you have in your in-house design team. Each designer’s vision ignites further ideas in others, quickly leading to exponential creative growth, which raises the quality of the teams work, their morale and engagement.

Leading by design is especially effective in industries and sectors that experience rapid change. Where the ability to adapt and change gears is pivitol. Because during these times, no single person can categorically know what comes next. When leading by design your job is not to know the future, but to create a design team that has the freedom to discover it.

When we focus on crafting an organisational culture, creative process, routines and a structure within which a design team and it’s designers can thrive. There is no need to fear uncertainty or pretend to know what comes next. Instead, we have an in-house design team designed to seize opportunities that we could have never envisioned ourselves. A future-proofed design team that creates solutions to problems we’re not even aware of yet.