A seeming dichotomy?

Traditionally, we might think of design as craft and creativity – and to be clear, these are certainly critical to great design. However, an understanding of user needs and business goals should also sit at the core of what designers do.

On the other hand, business leaders often value financial performance, strategic planning, or product development as top priorities. But great design is critical to creating a great user experience, which is core to delivering on any financial goals.

In sum, great design isn’t only about how things appear, it’s about seamless functionality and delightful experience. And as with any business priority, we don’t get there accidentally. Strong design comes from a deep understanding of user needs, reflection and foresight on industry trends, and fluency with the latest tech.

Design Thinking Saves Money

Optimizing your user experience, or UX, saves you money. How? Great design upfront reduces disappointment, which means lost users or potential users. Also, a well-designed experience delivers everything a user is looking for, which reduces the need and expense of customer support. In fact, one tech organization estimates that 25% of all project failures are due to poor design!

Design Generates Revenue

Every design decision has an impact on the user experience, which directly impacts our ability to make money. For instance, great design brings in intrigued consumers, keeps them engaged, seamlessly converts that interest to trial, and retains loyal users. Forrester, one of the most influential advisory firms in the world, estimates that for every dollar invested in UX, there’s a return of $990!

See, it’s not just about bringing customers from awareness to trial and loyalty, awesome design reduces friction across the user journey. This ensures a delightful experience, which can often become a competitive advantage. How many websites or apps do you stay on for over a minute, waiting for a page to load? (I’d guess NONE).

Some Tips for Design that Enhances Business

• Learn about the business: What are we trying to achieve? What are our goals?
• Ruthlessly prioritize: Identify the most critical product features and perfect them.
• Clock the miliseconds: Reduce every tiny bit of friction you can in the user experience.
• Marie Kondo the thing: Remove every bit of unnecessary clutter that doesn’t add value.
• Make technology your friend: Learn how to use tools that enable simplicity and efficiency.
• Iterate: Recognize you won’t get it perfect the first time, and let consumers inform quick, agile improvements.
• Monitor and Evolve: Watch and learn how design drives growth, not on a monthly basis but on a daily, hourly basis.

Oh, and Design Thinking Makes us Better Leaders, too.

Design thinking enables efficient problem-solving. Over the last 25 years, I’ve witnessed how leaders generally approach problems with either: 1) An engineering mindset, or 2) A designer mindset.

For instance, an engineering approach starts with collecting and analyzing the data available. We take a methodical approach based on what has been done in the past, the current challenge at hand, and a view of where we need to go in the future.

On the other hand, to solve a design challenge, we start with the end in mind. What does success look like? This can massively expand our consideration set and approach, to develop as many divergent solutions as possible!

So, rather than seen as a dichotomy, Design and Business come together to make us and our business better.

For a related article, check out The value of experiential design, What I learned in an emerging market

Images made with Dalle 3

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What is Ignoragance?

Bernd refers to this toxic recipe as an efficient way to exit the Chinese market quickly 😆 Ignoragance is when ignorance meets arrogance.

Our German auto expert described how Western companies watched with arrogant posture, as Chinese companies began to build cars. Those Western companies failed to keep a close eye on what was happening in the market. And now that same ignoragance is requiring expensive JVs to gain entry to, or stay in, the China market. In sum, those companies “ignored the local brands and were arrogant enough to think they could capture any trend and do it better than anyone else, especially the Chinese.” Wow.

💡APPLICATION: Where do we experience Ignoragance? Are there areas in our own lives where we may approach issues with a degree of ignorance + arrogance? How might we become less ignoragant?

1. Educate ourselves – intentionally take in different points of view. We can proactively avoid ignorance if we constantly try to stay informed on different perspectives. For more, I just wrote about taking in different voices here.
2. Focus on the great – if we consistently look to the most inspiring, mind-blowing innovations, we can avoid that brand of arrogance which comes from ‘having been the best’. Instead, we remain curious about what’s coming and what might be.

OK, so what is Conrelevance?

It’s the beautiful thing that happens when convenience meets relevance. It’s about setting what’s convenient and relevant for the customer as our North Star. Next, Bernd described how traditional auto makers lost the plot – they engineered what they knew and expected the customer to pay for it. Now, can you just imagine their stunned reaction when electrification undulated across the country?!

In summary, Bernd described a razor-sharp focus of the Chinese on a key question: “What can I sell?” They constantly ask, “Is there a customer need? How can I tailor it to what matters to our customer?” This is conrelevance, my friends.

The success of a leader doesn’t mean the success of an organization.

This is an important insight I captured, and had to throw in the mix! How often do we incorrectly ascribe success or failure to a leader? Given transitions between leaders, depending on lead times in industry, we may get the credit of successful results, which we didn’t lead. On the other hand, we can be blamed for poor results, for which the path had been laid long before our arrival.

💡APPLICATION: What success or failure are we attributing to the leader or their predecessor? Given how frequently leaders change roles, this can serve as a very clarifying question. And incidentally, it’s why I particularly respect those who have led successful businesses for a long time.

Click here to listen to the full podcast and here for our first of the series with Trevor Lai.

For related articles, check out:

• Life is an emerging market – how key insights from developing markets apply to our daily lives
• Make good micro-choices – small decisions become habits which become our way of life.

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Our family has been living apart (but seeing each other frequently!) since July 2022. That’s why we were particularly thrilled when Minki came to LA, so we were able to set up the tree together. Um, we were happier than we look in this snap! 😂 I mean, tree decorating is serious business.

First, we start by hanging our “annual ornaments”. You see, every year we make or have made a special ornament. In 2008, we did the baby hand and footprint thing. Then in 2009, our neighbor who was a woodworker, made Laini a special little bear ornament. Well, that catalyzed the holiday tradition! Now though we’ve lost touch with our neighbors John and Peggy, we’ll remember them always because of that special ornament. And the family ritual they inadvertently started for the Chang’s.

Of course, one last ritual is to watch, as frequently as possible, the movie, “Elf“. When he tries to run out of the bathroom while covering his eyes… eating the subway gum… maple syrup pasta… pure Christmas classics!

What are your Christmas reflections or special holiday traditions? I’d love to hear about them! And whatever they may be, our family sends you our warmest wishes. May you experience joy, laughter, and togetherness this Holiday season. Love, the Changs

For related articles, check out:

• Chinese New Year traditions
• Family stories
• Does your family have a safety plan?

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HEAD – Does this idea cause me to think differently?

As I consider a new idea, does it challenge me intellectually? One IKEA campaign really inspired me – called “Thisables.”

This campaign challenged me to think more empathetically about furniture design, and all that I’ve personally taken for granted. I hadn’t realized how difficult it is for people with disabilities to get up off the couch, open a door, or complete some of the functions I don’t even have to think twice about! Now THIS was a great idea.

Here’s a different take on the question – Does this idea inspire me to think about things differently? As a more whimsical example, we created a campaign for Innocent Juice last year.

As we were consider how to talk about the “NFC” or Not From Concentrated benefit, a team member happened upon an insight. Did you know that there’s a strong community of people who HATE fruit? The team began to follow these communities of “Non-Fruit Consumers.” Now, we had great fun learning about how some are simply repulsed by fruit! And leveraged this insight to flip the story. Check out the Innocent Juice campaign here.

HEART – Am I feeling inspired to act or be better?

When approached with a new idea, does it touch me emotionally? I remember being so inspired by Annie, our Head of Communications. She proposed an idea for World Ocean Day, but smartly didn’t lead with the idea. Rather, she asked me, “Did you know that there are more face masks than jellyfish in the ocean?” WOW. According to The Guardian, more than 1.5 billion masks made their way into our oceans last year 😨 These masks are hurting and killing wildlife. In fact, ocean life is getting choked and suffocated by masks, and sea birds find their feet hopelessly tangled in the straps. That’s why on this World Ocean Day, Annie proposed that we “Cut the Strap.”

Yes, I’m in! The idea inspires me to act better, and provides a simple, practical way to do so. I’m so proud that this idea led by McCann for the China market was recognized as an award-winning CSR initiative!

SOUL – Does the idea change the way I engage with the world?

Does the idea stir my soul? Does it touch the deepest part of me, affecting the way i want to engage with the world around me? One idea that has been germinating for years, stemmed from my Spare Room. You see, as we cared for more and more vulnerable babies, children and young adults, our family began to feel a deep sense of conviction and purpose in what we were doing. Eventually, the idea solidified as Social Legacy, the intersection of one’s Offense + Offer.

It’s about identifying and owning what each of us was uniquely gifted to contribute with this one, precious life of ours. (For my “Spare Room” TEDx talk, click here)

To share a campaign that touched my soul, I loved the L’Oréal and Neiwai brand collaboration. The mega-beauty brand joined a Chinese lingerie and loungewear brand, encouraging Chinese women to feel comfortable in their own skin.

The brands launched coordinated product lines with a nude color palette that complements Asian skin tones. Further, the products were named after what women traditionally felt embarrassed about, or tried to hide. These were adorable, inspiring products like Little Freckles, and Wheat-Color Tan in a world where whitening is still revered. Might these product lines and stories encourage women to embrace their whole selves a bit more? To feel more confident in their own skin? Wow, that’d be amazing!

What do you think about this framework? Do you have other ways you evaluate the best ideas? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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It all starts with WHO we are.

If we aren’t clear on who we are yet, we ought to take a step in that direction by stating a desired goal because then, we start to become who we say we want to be. In the yellow bubble below, I shared our leadership vision at McCann Worldgroup in China.

You see, back in 2020, instead of continuing to behave as a traditional 4A agency, we stated a different vision of who we want to become. And in the last 2.5 years, we have made measurable progress against becoming our clients’ trusted partner, delivering tailor made strategy and creative that land in the market! We wouldn’t have accidentally gotten here, and wouldn’t have invested in the tech or people development we did… without that clearly defined North Star.

In the blue bubble on the right, I shared a story from The Spare Room book. In Chapter Four, a sales manager named Thomas is featured in the story called “The Two Misters” (brings a tear to my eye every time It think about those gentlemen!) Thomas befriended two guys living in a tent community near his office, and began bringing them food after work. The story of their friendship and how the two misters ended up in that community is a must-read! But what I stressed during the conference is the amplifying effect of living into our own “Who.” When Thomas began to live into his intention, his spirit of generosity became contagious!

So, who are YOU?

Here’s who you are not: you are not your job title. You are not one specific role you play in life, be it partner, parent, or child. You are more than that. In fact, you’re that unique combination of skills, experiences, capabilities, and personality quirks that makes you wonderfully made! And defining, writing down, and sharing your own Who is a great start towards living with more intentionality.

For related articles, check out:

• Redefine Yourself Constantly
• Are You a Consistent Leader?
• What Kind of Leader Are You?

If interested to learn more about the conference and the organization, check out https://apacoaches.org/.

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First, the basics.

1. Do you have an evacuation plan? Do kids know where to go in case of fire?
2. Is there a first aid kit readily accessible in the house and do the kids know where to find it?
3. Is there a working fire extinguisher and does everyone know how to use it?
4. Has the family listed emergency contacts where everyone can view them? And are the contacts aware they’re listed and prepared to help in case of emergency?
5. Are there flashlights by the kids’ beds, in case the power goes out?

Next, the safe word.

We’ve all been on a raucous playground, where the parents are trying to squeeze in a proper conversation over the din. Kids are screaming with joy (and the occasional scrape), and at least five kids are shouting, “Mom!”

Maybe it’s “Mom, look at me!” or “Mom, can you get my shoe?”… Or possibly, it’s, “Mom, help!”

How might we help our kids break through the audio clutter to capture our attention when they really need it? Agree on a family safe word that: 1) only your family knows, 2) is not normally used on a daily basis. This way, in the midst of playground chaos or grocery store mayhem, your kids can immediately get your attention if they’re in danger. We’ve had one with Laini since she was able to speak, and thank God she’s never had to use it!

Then, the teenager’s “safe word.”

As kids get older, they may find themselves in socially compromising situations. The boyfriend is being too aggressive… the party’s getting out of control… a friend just pulled out a baggie. Your kid may not want to text “Mom, come get me” because friends might see and make fun of them.

So, arm your teen with a phrase they can text you, which means “Please get me out of here.” Agree on the phrase, which: 1) only your family knows, 2) is not normally used on a daily basis.

Last, create space for dialogue.

Kids may have something they want to tell you, but they can’t find the window. They may not know how to initiate a difficult discussion, or signal that something is wrong.

So, parents can establish and normalize a way for children to open and hold difficult dialogue. Our family defined the construct for our family meeting years ago and my husband and I “run water though the pipes” every so often, to keep the window top of mind. It’s nothing fancy.

Here’s how it works: one of us calls a family meeting and lights a candle. We agree to sit and talk until the one who initiated the meeting blows out the candle. This sets the expectation that we will hold a calm discussion, that every voice matters, and that we will dialogue productively until we reach closure.

We’ve held family meetings over new job offers and possible relocations, Laini’s allowance increase, vacation plans, and when it was time to put down our beloved Puffin. The family meeting has worked well for us, but it’s no magic formula. The key is to let our kids know that there’s a channel for the heavier conversations. And that their voice matters, and they’re seen as a valued, contributing member of the family.

What are some of your family safety habits and practices?

For related articles, check out:

• Family Stories Month
• A Three Month Miracle – the story of our latest Spare Room kid
• A list of our family’s favorite games

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First, who are you as a family unit?

What are you known for? What do you do best? And why is this important?

Because: We are who we say we are… and if we’re not sure about that yet, We become who we say we want to be.

As someone who’s worked in the world of branding for a couple of decades, I see a strong corollary here. You see, branding requires us to define a positioning. Then, we build our intention and actions around that positioning. Whether it’s a product, person, or family, we have the opportunity to define who we want to be and work towards that goal.

So you, yes you, can define and then reinforce who you are verbally or visually. I have a friend who always reminds his kids, “The Tome family hustles!” Brian has made this true by declaring it, and regularly reminding his kids. It gives them a tangible, shared characteristic as a family unit. Another friend hangs signs in her home as visual reminders of who they are as a family.

Second, what do you stand for as a family?

If you’ve been following me, you’ll know I write about #sociallegacy quite a bit. “Legacy” representing who or what we seek to leave better than we found it. And “Social” defining the space in which we seek to make that impact. This is a powerful individual exercise, and one that can also help define a family story. What is the hill we’ll die on as a family? What do we care deeply about and what is the unique collection of experiences, characteristics and resources we have to offer?

Third, how do you operate as a family?

I don’t mean to make your family sound like a factory 😝… but there is a rhythm to how any people group does life. Do you share a “familect” or family dialect? It’s that special language you share, which grows from your unique shared experience. Perhaps they’re baby words that have remained in the family’s vocabulary, or the remnant of a hilarious inside joke. If you haven’t thought about this, I suggest it as a #tabletopic for dinner tonight. It’ll bring up wonderful memories and likely end in rapturous giggles!

Rituals are another important element of how your family operates. We maintain daily, weekly, and annual family traditions. While while individually, they are valuable practices, they also create an extra sense of “familyness” – something only the Chang family does together. For instance, every evening, our family does our HPGs – we each share our High, Proud and Gratitude. This is a wonderful way to hear about each other’s days and stay connected. Also, it enables a daily habit of gratitude. Over time, habits become behavior and our behavior defines our character. Developing personal characters grounded in optimism, self-reflection and gratitude is important for the Chang family.

On a weekly basis, we have Pizza/Movie Night. See, rituals don’t have to be super unique! They just have to be something we all enjoy, consistently maintained over time. We each know that this is family time, and build other plans around it. And maintaining this ritual is a way of telling each other, “I value you and our time together is precious to me.”

Last, I’ve blogged about our annual ritual before. We each paint a vision for the year ahead, spending the day painting over last year’s goals with renewed ideas. Not to erase the past, but to build upon it. Actually, these canvases are getting awfully heavy with over a decade’s worth of paint on them! But we’ll continue to paint and hang them on the walls. This tradition serves two purposes: 1) We sit down and talk about what we’d like to actualize in the coming year, 2) We review the previous year together, looking back as individuals and as a family.

What is your family’s story? I’d love to hear about it! And I hope this post inspires some meaningful family discussions this Family Stories Month!

One way our family shares thoughts about our spare room is through what I’ve called our #taxichats, quick videos of us chatting in the car. You can find them in the blog section of this site. For a few of our favorites, check out Taxi Chat #1 our funniest spare room memory, Taxi Chat #6 which kid impacted us the most, Taxi Chat #9 how Laini dealt with people’s reactions to Teo.

For a related article, check out The Shape of Family.

#sociallegacy #thespareroombook #thespareroom #livewithpurpose #inspiration #definingmoment #familystoriesmonth #taxichats…

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THIS IS THE YEAR FOR BRAVERY, LEADERSHIP AND GROWTH.

And people born in a year of the Tiger are thought to be competitive, courageous, confident, unpredictable, and willful. Here’s an interesting tidbit – if you’re a Tiger, this is thought to be a year of adversity and turmoil for you. Yep, while one might think that it’s lucky to land on your year… the Chinese believe Tigers need to be cautious in 2022.

I don’t know enough to explain this thoroughly, but the Tigers I know are doing everything from visiting temples to wearing protective talismans. Oh, by the way, they’re not alone; the second-most at risk animal is the Monkey. This is believed because the monkey sits at the opposite end of the zodiac’s wheel.

Even if this is a riskier year for you (and you believe all this), we’re still ready to throw down for the next 15 days! Last night was New Year’s Eve, so the skies lit up with fireworks, while our family played games around the fire and enjoyed 年糕 and 饺子 – traditional new year’s rice cakes and dumplings. But looking ahead, Feb 15 is really the highlight of the holiday: as it’s the last day of our CNY celebration: the Lantern Festival.

LANTERN FESTIVAL

The Lantern Festival or 元宵节 (yuan xiao jie) marks the first full moon of the new lunar year and the end of CNY.

On the evening of Feb 15, streets will be decorated with colorful lanterns, and people will eat sweet rice balls called tangyuan (to demonstrate appreciation of the moon). Dragon and lion dances will color the streets, and thankfully, this should be our last night of fireworks. One particularly beautiful experience is the lighting and release of lanterns as a community.

What a colorful, beautiful holiday!

Photo creds: red lanterns from Yorkshire Post, lantern release from globusjourneys.com

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What leaders in the West can learn from those in China.

Graham asked me what the West can learn from China (around the 7:00 mark). My thought was: agility.

In the USA, we often define, design, and qualify with care and precision before launching a new product. Meanwhile in China, an MVP is put together and launched so that we can quickly gauge in-market reaction, learn, and improve.

As leaders, it may all come down to our appetite for risk and our definition of failure. For instance, if a new product doesn’t do well in the West, it may quickly get labeled a failure. However in China, a new product quickly rakes in the complaints and we celebrate for having learned quicker – it’s deemed a success! So, redefine success and go for it.

That boss who told me I had to work 3x harder than everybody else.

Graham initiated a new topic by asking about my philosophy as a leader (just before 10:00). I shared my experience working in Guangzhou with Procter & Gamble. Our VP, Ravi, told me I was 3x more expensive than a local hire (as an expat). He suggested I should therefore, deliver 3x the value!

Actually, this challenge was really fantastic. It pushed me to get intentional about what I hoped to achieve in my new role. And it cemented a simple formula in my mind – how do I contribute more than I consume?

That question has become a straightforward and ongoing KPI I’ve maintained for myself since then, a way to measure my effectiveness as a leader and as a human. So, consider how you might become more approachable and see what conversations arise.

Taking the awe out of leadership

Graham asked me if I consciously take down the wall between my real self and my professional veneer (~29:00). The answer? Absolutely!

A wonderful mentor, Ravi, once counseled me to take the awe out of leadership. Because if our people are in awe of us, that feeling creates a distance between us. Then, if we don’t get close, we can’t know each other well, or build trust… which are all required to do great work together. By the way, there’s a fine line between awe and fear.

This is why I walk around a lot. In fact, I build “walk around time” into my schedule, just to ensure I’m being visible enough to the broader organization. What happens when I do this? Sometimes, I get to address the small questions or feedback, which I would normally not get to hear (“Can the company order tissues for every floor?).

Other times, I observe pain points and find ways to make our teams’ lives easier or more comfortable (“Our water machines need to be replaced”).

Today as I walked around, I got my head measured. Long story. But very fun and incredibly hilarious. So, walk around and see what happens.

Hotel stationary as a key leadership tool

Graham and I touched on this fun tradition I created for myself just after 33:00. While working at IHG, I spent a lot of time in hotels. One day as I pulled opened the desk drawer and flipped open the leather bound binder, I wondered, when’s the last time someone used this stationary? Right then, I decided that every time I stay at a hotel, I’ll write a letter to someone I’m grateful for. Just a small gesture, takes no more than five minutes. But a handwritten note means a lot! And that nice, thick paper is just sitting there… free and waiting to be used.

Because sometimes it’s in the grand gesture, and sometimes it’s in the little moments. So today, consider what gesture you can add to your repetoire and become that leader who never looks busy.

You can watch the full podcast here. To check out all my podcasts, go to this page.

Photo credit: China photo

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My immediate reaction was, “A servant leader.”

What’s that actually mean? I believe servant leadership is about putting our team’s interests ahead of our own. It’s believing the business will thrive when our people thrive. Which, by the way, will make my job so much fun and incredibly fulfilling!

This kind of leader isn’t a pushover or a doormat. In fact, one way of defining servant leadership is “caringly assertive” (check out my caringly assertive model here). Another, to quote Katz Kiely, is “Human Leadership” (check out the podcast I recorded with her here). Or, as I recently mused, this shift is sort of like the difference between hosting and entertaining. In many ways, I think servant leadership takes a traditional paradigm and turns it on its head.

Not resonating with you?

Lots of other types of leaders are very successful. Here are five common leadership styles:

1. Visionary: “Picture this”

2. Autocractic: “Follow me”

3. Pace-Setting: “Do as I do”

4. Democratic: “Participation builds consensus”

5. Coaching: “Consider this”

6. Affiliative: “People come first” – this is perhaps closest to the concept of servant leadership.

Check out this article for more on Daniel Golman’s model.

Which of these resonate with you? And why does it matter?

Because defining your leadership style allows you to get intentional with how you lead. It enables you to reflect on how your leadership approach progresses your vision and goals. After all, an impactful leader is clear on who they are and how they operate.

Then, having this clarity helps you to lead in a consistent way, and consistency builds trust amongst your people and teams.

By the way, you may not fall into just one camp.

Rather, you might find yourself employing several different leadership styles at any given time.

• Different people may respond best to different styles, and situational leaders adapt their style with agility to maximize effectiveness.
• Different company cultures may require or suit one style over the other. So, when joining a new organization, it pays to observe and identify what seems to resonate and have staying power.
• Different roles and levels demand agility in leadership. This means that, often with a promotion, we need to reflect on what worked for us in the past. We should not assume that what worked for us then, will work for us now or in the future.

Actually, Minter and I talked about more than leadership styles.

Some other fun questions he threw at me were:

• How do you deal with trite conversation?
• What’s your secret to insightful, revealing interviews?
• Does your social legacy or life mission every change?

Listen to the full podcast here.

Related Articles: My Caringly Assertive model, The difference between Hosting and Entertaining,

Photo credit: Slidemodel.com

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