Don’t blindly implement what you read in a book
Books, frameworks, and case studies are valuable—they distill years of experience into actionable insights. But context is everything—what worked for one company, team, or industry may completely fail in yours.
🚨 The pitfalls of blindly applying a book’s advice:
Ignoring your unique challenges – A startup can’t implement the same processes as a 10,000-person company. A UX team in fintech faces different constraints than one in gaming.
Forcing a framework that doesn’t fit – Not every team thrives with Agile. Not every company should “Move Fast and Break Things.” Context dictates success.
Overlooking culture and team dynamics – Leadership strategies that work in one environment may backfire in another. A process that fosters collaboration in one team might create bottlenecks in yours.
Wasting time and resources – Implementing a system just because it worked for someone else can lead to overcomplicated workflows, disengaged teams, and solutions that don’t solve your problems.
✅ How to assess if a book’s advice will work for your team:
Is it a one-way or two-way door decision? A irreversible or costly-to-reverse extensive can be thought of as a one-way door. These decisions require deeper scrutiny—restructuring a team or shifting core strategy isn’t easy to undo. Two-way doors (reversible decisions) are safer to experiment with—if a new design critique format or sprint cycle doesn’t work, you can revert.
Does it align with your team’s size, stage, and constraints? A process that works for a company of 10 designers might break when scaled to 100. Instead, look for snippets that can plug into existing processes or ways of working.
Have you pressure-tested it against your company culture? Does the advice assume decision-making power you don’t actually have? Or, will it build a culture that doesn’t align to your business values?
Can you run a small, low-risk experiment? Before overhauling a workflow, try a pilot version with a small team. Gather feedback, iterate, and only then consider scaling. When things do go well, shine the spotlight on that team as a bright-spot in the company. This will help with change management over time.
☠️ But what if you’ve already implemented something, and it didn’t work?
Reversing a bad decision isn’t easy, especially if it’s hurt morale or trust. But there are a few different approaches on how to walk back a bad decision and potentially help minimize the damage without losing your team’s confidence:
1️⃣ Own the mistake—transparently. Acknowledge that the change didn’t have the intended impact. Your team will respect honesty more than defensiveness.
2️⃣ Share the “why” behind the reversal. Explain what you learned. Was it a misalignment with team needs? An unforeseen bottleneck? A cultural mismatch?
3️⃣ Involve your team in the next steps. Instead of dictating the fix, ask for input. What would they keep? What should change? This shifts ownership back to the team and builds a more collaborative, iterative culture.
4️⃣ Rebuild trust through action. Demonstrate that you’re listening. If you say you’ll iterate, follow through. If you promise fewer top-down changes, commit to it and make it so.
5️⃣ Make “experimentation” part of your culture. If your team sees decisions as learning opportunities rather than rigid mandates, they’ll be more open to future changes.
The takeaway:
The best leaders and designers don’t just follow advice; they adapt it for their context.
Read widely. Learn deeply. But always test before you implement—and be willing to course-correct when needed.
What’s a book or framework you’ve had to walk back after realizing it didn’t fit your team?
