The 5 Business Skills Every Design Professional Needs to Master / Ryan Scott / Ep. #222

When advice goes wrong...

My daughter is an avid soccer player.

On a recent cold and dark Saturday morning, I was standing on the sideline cheering her on at a match - the priceless perks of being a dad.

At some point, the opposing team coach was shouting to their players, "You need to defend better!"

And all I could think to myself at that moment was, "That's terrible advice."

Not because they were defending well - rather the opposite.

But, I mean, "defend better" - would you know what you're supposed to do?

Should I press higher, get closer to the attacker, make more forward runs?

This type of advice often just leads to more confusion and coordination problems.

Now, in design, we also get this type of well-intended but counter-productive advice all too often.

Want a classic example?

How about "designers need to understand business"?

No sh*t Sherlock.

We hear this ALL the time.

Very rarely does someone go beyond the surface and get specific about what "understanding business" actually means.

Fortunately for us, we have someone on the Show today who does - Ryan Scott.

Ryan has an impressive track record in design, but he also holds an MBA degree.

This combination is quite unique and gives him the ability to look at challenges from different perspectives with empathy for both sides.

So in this episode, we unpack what it actually takes to bridge the gap between business and design.

You'll be surprised to hear how many skills you already have to make this crossover successfully.

It's not easy, but it's not as hard or distant as you might think, either. MBA degree not required.

So, if you've ever felt frustrated by the lack of respect and appreciation for design from "the business side," this conversation might just hold the clue on how you can turn that around.

I've always said that designers can be some of the best salespeople.

It's really time that we start using this power to our advantage.

Because we are all selling already, every single day.

Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 222

03:00 Broad Designer Role

05:00 Business vs. Users

07:30 Why an MBA?

11:00 Business for Designers

14:00 People Skills & Clout

15:30 Design Gaslighting

21:00 Joining the Conversation

22:30 The Gap

32:00 Management-Led Design

34:00 Shaping Your Perspective

36:00 Sales & Brand

38:00 Biggest Roadblock

41:30 Reframing Our Identity

46:15 Adapting to the System

48:45 Imposter Syndrome

51:45 Proving Your Impact

54:00 Competitive Analysis

56:30 Design Career Path

1:01:00 Question to Ponder

1:02:15 Resources

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanscottcreative/
• How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie (book) - https://a.co/d/0VTXtJ3
• 48 laws of power by Robert Greene (book) - https://a.co/d/ftLLRom
• https://www.acceleratedesign.com/
• Maven Learning - https://maven.com/ryan-scott

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle