John Bowie
The Shareholder Is Always Right?
“The customer is always right” was the very first business maxim. It’s so old no one can remember who said it, but for decades companies...
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John Bowie
- Feb 27, 2021
- 4 min
The Cult of Complexity and the TIDOR Syndrome
The Cult of Complexity has spawned many sects over the years, ranging from the forgivably ignorant to the damnably intentional. I’ll...
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John Bowie
- Feb 26, 2021
- 2 min
Turn 'em Loose #9: Motivation
Any acknowledgement of a job well done is appreciated, but the most potent motivator is a thank you from a customer.
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John Bowie
- Feb 17, 2021
- 2 min
The Smart People Paradox
There’s only one problem with smart people: they tend to design things for people like themselves – for other smart people.
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John Bowie
- Nov 16, 2020
- 5 min
The Design Mind #4: Empathy Desired, but not Required
Some companies try to institutionalize design thinking with only a superficial understanding of what design is.
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John Bowie
- Nov 12, 2020
- 4 min
The Design Mind #3: Whom Do You Serve?
Product teams must awaken to the fact that in most cases their product is ancillary–not integral–to their customers’ lives.
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John Bowie
- Nov 2, 2020
- 3 min
The Design Mind #2: The First Question
We’re not designing a product – a “thing”; we’re designing a better “way” for someone to get all the outcomes and results they care about.
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John Bowie
- Nov 1, 2020
- 3 min
Keys to the Boardroom: The Soft Skills of Leadership
"The way I contribute most isn’t by developing brilliant strategies myself, but rather by getting groups of people to work together."
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John Bowie
- Oct 29, 2020
- 3 min
Turn 'em Loose! #8: Performance
I’ve led creative teams for over 25 years. This means there have been over 25 times in my career when I seriously considered quitting.
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John Bowie
- Oct 26, 2020
- 5 min
The Design Mind #1
The design mind distills a design problem down to the essential few questions that are almost guaranteed to produce an elegant design.
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John Bowie
- Oct 20, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: Inspiring Your Team
As a leader, your job is to bring them together as a team and to inspire them to solve the hard problems.
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John Bowie
- Oct 17, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: Getting Comfortable with Ignorance
New managers, especially, may adopt the false belief that management is about knowing more than your direct reports and exerting control.
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John Bowie
- Oct 14, 2020
- 3 min
Turn 'em Loose! #7: Failure
We all face failure; we just have to have the persistence and confidence to push past it, to see it as an opportunity for greater success.
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John Bowie
- Oct 12, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: Letting Go Your Last Competency
You must forget about being the best engineer now and worry about being the best manager of engineers, a totally different skillset.
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John Bowie
- Oct 8, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: You Are Not What You Do
You must replace your belief that you are your ideas and your results with another belief. A belief in your values.
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John Bowie
- Oct 6, 2020
- 2 min
Turn 'em Loose! #6: Energy
You can’t fabricate the same level of creative energy in virtual meetings that you can during in-person design jams.
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John Bowie
- Oct 5, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: Let Go Your Ego
The most successful CEOs do not derive their self-worth from their ideas and achievements.
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John Bowie
- Oct 3, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: Getting Noticed
To get noticed and promoted, you need to look around, find problems, pick them up, and solve them.
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John Bowie
- Sep 30, 2020
- 3 min
Turn 'em Loose! #5: Trust
The paternalistic attitude that employees are like children who need constant supervision is obsolete in the age of the knowledge worker.
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John Bowie
- Sep 27, 2020
- 2 min
Keys to the Boardroom: Getting Passed Over
One of the most discouraging experiences is being passed over for a promotion that you think you deserve.
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