Every design and design system is embedded within an underlying business model that defines how an organization understands, creates, and extracts value. This framework constrains all of the choices w...

When the data changes but the opinion doesn't.

On product, creativity, and the practice of paying attention. Giving myself (and you) permission to be a little unruly in a world of systems and metrics. Click to read Wild Enough, by Mariesa, a Subst...

The letter comes after administration officials changed leadership for the system, implemented new AI tooling, and shut out members of an open-source community.

Johns Hopkins study reveals AI chatbots respond differently based on gender-coded language prompts, impacting workplace communication.

In this post, I’m going to share ten career traps thoughtful people often find themselves ensnared in.

Companies today often use AI to pursue low-value opportunities: adding a new feature that doesn’t truly matter to the customer or giving employees tools that save them time but don’t capture measurabl...

What figure painting taught me about updating my mind at work.

Companies often make consequential bets on talent based largely on instinct. Research on more than 4,200 musicians suggests a more systematic approach. Managers should assess three forms of capital: c...

Here is something that does not get said enough: the people who feel things most deeply are usually the first ones broken by a toxic environment. Not the most brittle.

Nicholas de Monchaux led MIT's Department of Architecture through pandemic disruption, establishing impact-driven research, advancing circularity in building design, strengthening department infr...

A year as Chief of Staff, and why I’m going back to design leadership

Finding space to breathe again. I return to my desk, newly assembled after making the almost 3,000 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean from Washington State to Hawaii. The space is new but the tools are so familiar. I look around and it feels like seeing good friends after a long hiatus. There’s something different though in this new space and it has nothing to do with the contents of the room.

You want to foster psychological safety in your relationships at work and at home? Work on your listening skills.

New Tedx speaker Jenny Bates Heaton shares how value-based decision-making and employee-led talent systems can reduce systemic workplace bias and boost retention.

Job titles like 'engineer' and 'designer' are melting into something new. Here's how to build your hiring plan around the roles that actually matter.

When leaders block people from achieving their purpose, engagement drops, performance suffers, and they’re far more likely to leave.