Values define how you want to live. We might not always be aware of them at every moment day in and day out, but they guide — often invisibly — our decision-making which drives actions. And those actions lead to results.

My values

There are four (4) themes that are most important for me to strive towards in work and in life. This goes for my coaching work, design work, and beyond. As with everything in life, these are subject to change and iteration, but these feel fairly solid to me.

Perfect is the enemy of done

Move quickly, build, and test solutions for specific problems iteratively, collaboratively, and in the shortest amount of time. Generally, ship it faster than you think you should — but not so fast that you're compromising on quality. (Voltaire would agree with most of this.)

Get out of your own way

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone says, I can't do a particular thing — whether that's about drawing or giving speeches or getting in shape. Because, unless there's some kind of physical limitation, the reality is that anyone can do these things. "I can't draw", for instance, is an excuse because someone thinks they should be better at drawing than they are at that moment. Let it go, do what you can, and don't listen to those inner Statlers and Waldorfs.

Make time to be curious, create the space to fail

Listen more than you speak and always step into someone else's shoes while embracing the tension of silence — for user research, for our team members, for home, for peers, for strangers. We live in an age of distraction, that's true, but this will create fundamentally better design outcomes, stronger teams, and better individuals which makes for stronger products.

Invite everyone in

The idea of inclusion means bringing everyone in — and this means all voices and all beliefs, no matter if it aligns with my specific version or with yours. When we set up safe spaces to have conversations (to listen and to share), for our teams and for ourselves to give and receive feedback, when we engage our collective experiences, strengths, and different points of view to inform, challenge, and stretch our thinking, we can make better decisions and have better outcomes for everyone.