Shipulski On Design

Search Results

At first glance, it seems easy to run a good test, but nothing can be further from the truth. The first step is to define the idea/concept you want to validate or invalidate.  The best way is to complete one of these two sentences: I want to learn that [type your idea here] is true. […]

Control strategies don’t work, but trust strategies do. Nothing goes as planned.  Trying to control things tightly is wasteful.  It takes too much energy to batten down all the hatches and keep them that way every-day-all-day.  Maybe no water gets in, but the crew doesn’t get enough oxygen and their brains wither. Trust on the […]

We set visions, define idealized future states, define metrics, and create tools and processes to realize them. It’s all knit together, the puzzle pieces fight tightly, and it leaves out the most important part – people and their behavior. Metrics represent the all-important output of our tools and processes, and we’re so fascinated by metrics […]

Although it’s more important than ever, trust is in short supply. With everyone doing three jobs, there’s really no time for anything but a trust-based approach. Yet we’re blocked by the fear that trust means loss of control.  But that’s backward. Trust is a funny thing.  If you have it, you don’t need it.  If […]

Your best engineer walks into your office and says, “I have this idea for a new technology that could revolutionize our industry and create new markets, markets three times the size of our existing ones.” What do you do? What if, instead, it’s a lower caliber engineer that walks into your office and says those […]

If you want people to work together, give them a reason.  Tell them why it’s important to the company and their careers. If you want people to change things, change how they interact.  Eliminate leaders from some, or all, of the meetings.  Demand they set the approach. Give them control over their destiny. Make them […]

It’s not possible until you demonstrate it. It can’t be done until you show it being done. It won’t work until you make it work. It must be done using the standard process until you do it a much better way. It’s required until you violate the requirement and everything is fine. It’s needed until […]

Put it out there.  You don’t have time to do otherwise. Be true to yourself.  No one deserves that more than you do. Tell the truth, even when it’s difficult for people to hear.  They’ll appreciate your honesty. Believe the actions and not the words.  Enough said. Learn to listen to what is not said.  […]

Be successful, but be yourself. Accept people for who they are and everything else gets better. Tell the truth, even if it causes stress.  In the short term, it is emotionally challenging but in the long term, it builds trust. Disagree, yes.  Disappoint, yes.  Disavow, no. Be effective, but be yourself. If your actions cause […]

We wait because we don’t have enough information to make a decision. We wait until the decision makes itself because no one wants to be wrong. We wait for permission because of the negative consequences of being wrong. We wait to use our judgment until we have evidence our judgment is right. We wait for […]

Strivers do what’s best for them. Thrivers do what’s right. Strivers want more. Thrivers want what they have. Strivers can’t push back on people that are higher on the org chart or disagree with them. Thrivers push back and disagree regardless of the org chart. Strivers trade promotions for family. Thrivers put family first – […]