Doctor's Note

A mix of essays and commentary about design, innovation, technology, society, coaching, personal and leadership development. Since 1996.

Scaling Yourself + Two Tricks for Clarity & Stakeholder Management

Scaling Yourself + Two Tricks for Clarity & Stakeholder Management

Every week I spend my days coaching design leaders. And in these short videos, I reflect on common themes and questions that come up. Last week. I talked a bit …

Managing Up and Meta-Communication

Managing Up and Meta-Communication

I spend my days coaching design leaders, helping them improve themselves and their organisations. Since so many common themes and interesting questions come up, …

Are you my 100th coachee?

Are you my 100th coachee?

Although I have been mentoring designers of all levels for years as part of my work, I am formally in the fifth year of my design leadership coaching practice. …

Mediocrity and the current state of design

Mediocrity and the current state of design

I wrote a long essay in my newsletter about mediocrity and the current state of design. It was largely in response to Robert Fabricant’s The big design …

Defensive Calendaring Tips

Defensive Calendaring Tips

As part of my book writing process, I have been putting out videos on my YouTube channel about the topics and sections I’m writing. Many people will tell …

Leaving Substack

Leaving Substack

Just a quick note to say that I will be moving Doctor’s Note from Substack to Buttondown1. You don’t need to do anything to remain subscribed and the archive …

Leading versus Enabling

Leading versus Enabling

Although I coach design leaders for a living the obsession and even the word “leadership” has always made me uncomfortable. The kinds of articles you find in …