The Cycle of Seeking Validation and Proving Value in Design

If you're a designer who has been told to “Prove your value.” “Justify your presence.” “Demonstrate impact.” only to find yourself throwing yourself against the wall of immutable organisational structure and culture, what do you do?" asks Sara Wachter-Boettcher

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest is author, strategist, facilitator, speaker and coach Sara Wacther-Boettcher recently wrote on Medium an insightful essay called "Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you". She explains why these phrases have convinced designers that they’re the problem — that if they just worked harder, they’d be taken seriously. But if just doing more we're going to fix the problem… it’d be fixed by now.

SHOW LINKS

SARA
- Sara's website - https://www.sarawb.com
- Sara on Medium - https://medium.com/@sara_ann_marie
- Sara on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraboettcher/
- Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you. - https://medium.com/nice-work-from-active-voice/hey-designers-theyre-gaslighting-you-e02e5a4d9cff
- Design for Real Life - https://abookapart.com/products/design-for-real-life
- Content Everywhere - https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/content-everywhere/
- Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech - https://bookshop.org/p/books/technically-wrong-sexist-apps-biased-algorithms-and-other-threats-of-toxic-tech-sara-wachter-boettcher/11186625
- Per My Last E-Mail podcast - https://pmleshow.com

ANDY
• Andy's website - https://www.polaine.com
• Subscribe to Power of Ten - https://pln.me/p10
• Subscribe to Andy’s newsletter Doctor’s Note - https://pln.me/nws
• Andy's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine
• Andy's online courses - https://courses.polaine.com
• Andy on Mastodon - https://pkm.social/@apolaine
• Andy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/
• Suggestions? Feedback? Get in touch! - https://www.polaine.com/contact