Read, Adapt, but Don’t Copy: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Blind Implementation

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?

Escape the Swoop-and-Poop Cycle: How to Manage Up Like a Pro

Is Your Boss a Swoop-and-Pooper? Here’s How to Fix It.

Does your boss fly in, dive deep into an area outside their expertise, challenge your direction, push ill-formed ideas, then disappear—only to repeat the cycle later? Do they constantly ask for updates or bombard you with new ideas when you’re already swamped?

Yeah, we’ve all had these bosses. `It’s frustrating and exhausting. So, how do you deal with it? Pack your bags and pull the ripcord? Maybe—if the entire job (culture, environment, team, the problem you're solving) is toxic. But if the job is otherwise good, quitting over a meddlesome boss may not be the best move.

The Hard Truth: It’s Probably You, Not Them

Two things are likely true:

Your boss is invested in the outcome of your work. It’s tied to their strategy and, ultimately, their success.

Your boss answers to someone—their own boss, the board, shareholders, or other stakeholders.

This means they need to be confident in your ability to deliver on key outcomes and that they can adequately represent the value to their stakeholders. If they’re constantly buzzing in your ear, it signals a lack of confidence in your execution.

Put simply: your boss doesn’t trust you—at least not entirely. That doesn’t mean you’re unqualified, but it does mean there’s a gap in trust, understanding, or communication.

So what do you do?

How to Stop the Swoop-and-Poop

Your goal is to proactively close the trust gap. Here’s how:

1. Identify What’s Missing

What aspect is unclear to your boss? Is it the vision (how your work aligns with company goals)? The execution (confidence that work is progressing well)? The strategy (whether the plan is sound)? Understanding this will help you communicate effectively.

2. Provide a High-Level Plan

If your boss struggles with the big picture, create a high-level plan with clear milestones. Walk them through it and establish a shared understanding. Then, keep it updated as you make progress. This ensures they know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, and reassures them that you’re on track.

3. Offer Proactive Updates

If they’re micromanaging the execution, it’s because they feel out of the loop. Solve this by regularly sharing structured updates. If your boss is asking for updates, you’re already behind.

• Maintain a running document with weekly or biweekly summaries.

• Include bullet points, key decisions, blockers, and progress highlights.

• Provide links to artifacts (docs, mockups, dashboards) to minimize back-and-forth.

4. Manage Expectations

Set clear expectations for when and how you’ll communicate. If they know they’ll get a detailed update every Friday, they’ll be less likely to swoop in mid-week with random check-ins.

5. Engage Them on Their Terms

Some bosses are high-level thinkers, others love details. Pay attention to how they process information and tailor your updates accordingly. Do they prefer concise summaries? Visual dashboards? Data-heavy reports? Give them what they need in the way they prefer.

6. Make Them Look Good

Remember, your boss has their own pressures. The better you equip them to report up confidently, the less they’ll meddle. Give them the talking points they need to communicate your progress effectively.

The Payoff: Trust and Autonomy

Once your boss sees that you’re proactively managing your work, keeping them informed, and delivering results, they’ll begin to trust you more. Over time, their need to swoop in will decrease, and you’ll gain more autonomy.

If you’ve tried all this and they’re still interfering? Well, then it may be time to consider other options. But in most cases, better communication and proactive transparency can turn a swoop-and-pooper into a supportive, hands-off leader.

When Design Feels Like an Upgrade (Without Changing Functionality)

I’m really enjoying the new screen glow when triggering Siri in iOS 18. It doesn’t actually make Siri better—the functionality is unchanged. But the effect makes it feel more advanced, more futuristic.

And you know what? I actually enjoy using it more.

This is a perfect example of how UI alone can shape perception.

For early adopters, it’s exciting—something fresh to play with. For less tech-savvy users, it could be momentarily unsettling… but in this case, nothing about the way you trigger Siri or consume the output has changed. Just the visual confirmation that something is happening.

It’s a subtle but powerful design move. No new functionality, yet the experience feels elevated.

How often do you use this in your designs? A purely visual change that increases perceived value?

The 80% Rule That Makes Delegation Work

One of the biggest roadblocks to effective delegation is the belief that no one else can do the job as well as you can. And you’re probably right. But here’s the secret: they don’t have to.

The key to successful delegation isn’t demanding perfection—it’s being okay with someone getting it 80% right.

Why 80% is Good Enough

When you delegate, you’re not just offloading tasks; you’re investing in people. If you expect perfection every time, you’ll either avoid delegating altogether or micromanage so much that it defeats the purpose. Instead, recognize that 80% right still gets the job done, and the remaining 20% is an opportunity for growth.

Here’s why this mindset shift is powerful:

1. It Enables Scale – If you insist on doing everything yourself, you’ll eventually hit a ceiling. Delegation allows you to focus on higher-impact work while others take on responsibilities and develop their skills.

2. It Builds Stronger Teams – People learn by doing. If you never give them the chance to take ownership, they won’t improve. By allowing for mistakes and iteration, you help them grow.

3. It Increases Efficiency – Waiting for perfection slows everything down. When 80% is good enough, you get things moving faster and can refine later if needed.

4. It Frees You Up – The less you cling to tasks that others can handle (even imperfectly at first), the more time you have for strategic work, leadership, and innovation.

How to Make 80% Feel Comfortable

If letting go feels uncomfortable, try these steps to make delegation more effective:

• Clearly Define Success – Outline what “done” looks like and set clear expectations, but leave room for different approaches. Set expectations around audience and timeline. And be sure to include some time to refine the 20%.

• Provide Guidance, Not Control – Give direction but avoid micromanaging. Trust that your team will get there, even if they take a different route.

• Create Feedback Loops – Instead of demanding perfection upfront, create a process for iteration. Check in, course-correct if needed, and let them learn.

• Celebrate Progress – Acknowledge effort and improvement. The more confident your team feels, the better they’ll perform over time.

The Payoff: More Time, Less Stress, Better Results

When you embrace the 80% rule, you unlock real delegation. You’ll gain back time, reduce stress, and build a more capable, independent team. And over time? That 80% will edge closer to 100%—without you having to hover over every detail.

So next time you hesitate to delegate, ask yourself: Is 80% good enough? If the answer is yes, then let go and let your team rise to the challenge.

Design team should mirror your user base

You design your product for your users, but are you designing your design team to mirror your user base?

We obsess over user personas, edge cases, and accessibility—ensuring our products meet the needs of diverse audiences. But when we look at the people shaping these experiences, do we see the same diversity reflected?

That means thoughtfully building a team of different cultures, different educational backgrounds, and even different ways to breaking into design. This will help your team solve problems different, ask questions differently, and connect deeper to your users.

A design team that mirrors its users isn’t just a checkbox for representation—it’s a competitive advantage. It means:

✅ Deeper empathy—lived experiences inform better design decisions.

✅ Fewer blind spots—diverse perspectives catch issues before they become problems.

✅ Stronger innovation—different backgrounds lead to richer, more creative solutions.

If we want truly inclusive products, we need to start with inclusive design teams. That means rethinking hiring, fostering belonging, and ensuring every voice is heard.

How are you shaping your design team to better reflect your users? Let’s share strategies!