Three ways of working with Outcomes

About a year ago I read this quote from Julie Zhuo from Facebook. After reading this I had this nagging thought in my mind about outcomes for some time.  I think everyone can understand the idea of an outcome in conceptual terms but the reality of things tends to get a fluffy.It seemed like such a simple thing, but I often found myself getting lost in the details and focusing on this more often then not.

I decided to spend some time and try to really focus less on the details and more on the end product I wanted to achieve.  I applied this thinking to three major areas.

Stakeholder alignment with Appreciative Inquiry

A large part of Design leaders role in organisation is communicating. I usually say jokingly that a large part of my job is talking...a lot.

The larger the organisation the larger the network of stakeholders that need to be managed and informed. Trust and relationships  needs to be carefully cultivated. Communication is a key part of this.

I have found that approaching stakeholder relationships as a coach is much more effective than anything else. Coaching aims shows people the path to the right answers, not the answers themselves. Few stakeholders want to be corrected or to be educated in design.