The World Through Fresh Eyes

The budget's always tight and the team would love to have more people. That's not new. But the dials you used to turn aren't bringing the results you need. Something's different.

In the past, the team delivered... better work? It's hard to articulate what's changed. Deadlines slip. Solutions aren't hitting the mark. Users are drifting away. Stakeholders are frustrated. Morale is declining.

Is it your people? The business? The customers? Is the WORLD falling apart?! It sure feels like it some days. A lot of people are talking about the same vague unease. Something ain't right.

We're inclined to throw money at problems, if we have it. But even then, more bodies is rarely the answer. Vendors promise the world, and maybe they'll pull through. The thing is, your team has seen success in the past and you probably don't need more hands. Let's turn this thing around.

Whispers In The Hallways

There are a few things I hear when joining teams...

"I'm stuck fighting fires." This is usually the first thing I hear, and it's not a whisper. Engineering. Design. Product. Leadership. Folks are inclined to tackle the biggest problem before them. It feels right and necessary in the moment, and yet the fires multiply. It becomes impossible to see when stepping beyond the daily fires is the key to success.

"Design is the bottleneck." The work is less than stellar, slow on delivery, holding up the rest of the team, and (most frustratingly) stuck in endless revisions. They're working hard, but it seems impossible to make meaningful progress. When asked, they explain that the requirements are vague or complicated, making it impossible to do good work in a timely manner. Maybe it's true.

"We got a lot going on." Dig a little deeper and you'll tons of great ideas, but how are they prioritized? Often the loudest voice in the room wins. Politics rises, morale declines. Your product team is eager and pushing hard. Rushing to get ideas into the pipeline, through production and in front of users. Hoping the metrics come.

"I'm not sure, really. I mean..." Executives usually have a high-level vision, complementing the metrics they need. But if your IC's can't articulate the vision with confidence, you don't have a strategy for success. That may sound harsh, but when there's a clear strategy in place, everyone just knows it.

And that’s usually the root of it: strategy translates vision and goals into action, bringing the results we need. Without a clear path to success, you're surrounded by challenges, unsure of the next best step. Priorities are in flux, requirements are fuzzy, innovation submits to production, and everyone focuses on today's fires, blind of the future.

The Outsider Advantage

Okay, straight away, I know I'm biased because I am an outsider and that's what you need: more than bodies, more than money, and more than time. You need fresh eyes.

Everyone in your organization has deep expertise in the business, the customers, the solutions and ways of working. It's honest, accurate, worth protecting, and it's holding your business back.

And I'll admit, the outsider doesn't have to be me. Sometimes someone inside can bring fresh perspective: a new hire or promotion from within. An "outsider" if only for a short time. The higher up they join, the more effective. Why does level matter? Because change requires disruption, and disruption without authority is easily dismissed. The outsider needs to have authority or be empowered to challenge it.

When I joined the NBA team to guide the redesign of all their digital platforms (12 platforms, massive team with hundreds of people, a wild 18-month exercise), they asked me: "Who's your favorite team?"

Not only did I not have a favorite team, I didn't know anything about the sport. I joked (poorly), "Do they weave their own baskets?" It took me months to even remember LeBron James's name. Straight up, I am not into sports, at all. But I am very much into strategic design of digital experiences.

My ignorance (of the industry, the business, their internal dynamics, and ways of working) was a huge advantage in driving this massive digital transformation. I was empowered to disrupt the status quo, to champion new ways of working, to ask really obvious questions in a very serious manner, to hold folks to the strategy and decisions the team was aligned on.

The outsider perspective, the strategic design disruption I brought, was key.

Why This Works

I spend a lot of time talking to individual contributors across organizations: designers, developers, business folks, product owners. People with one to five years in the environment have incredibly valuable insight that's often overlooked. And because I'm new, advocating for change, they tell all.

Taking these nuggets of wisdom to leadership (people with 10, 20, or more years in the environment), we put structure around turning ideas into hypotheses we can prioritize, explore, and validate with customers. This informs tighter requirements, making space for innovation, and setting the bar higher, ensuring timely delivery excellence.

This strategic design approach bolsters confidence that what we're creating actually solves the problems we're facing. This outsider is deftly navigating red tape, demonstrating new ways of working, facilitating inclusive collaboration, making sure everyone is invited, participating and leaning in, championing ideas from everywhere. In time, this reinvigorates team culture and morale.

At the NBA, that fresh eyes perspective helped rally a massive team around our strategic vision. The strategy reverberated internally, energized third-party partners, and maintained stakeholder buy-in at the highest level. It empowered us to more easily negotiate expectations, challenges, and feedback with executive leadership.

The launch was celebrated by fans. Mostly! I mean, talk about a tough crowd. LeBron even tweeted some feedback. 😳 Perhaps a greater proof point is that much of what we created is alive and well today, years later.

This is what happens when you gain fresh perspective, challenge what's always been true, discover new opportunities, align around a shared vision, and give teams the refreshed structure to execute. We do our best work.

What's Your Biggest Fire?

If your team feels stuck and you're not sure why. If deadlines are slipping by. If your customers and stakeholders are frustrated, eager for change. If you're simply not confident about the next step.

Fresh eyes can help.

It's true on a professional level, a personal level, and maybe for society, too. I lean on the outsider perspective of my peers, users, family, friends, and community to help me refine my approach to just about everything I'm doing.

Matter of fact, let me know what you think of this article.