Andy Polaine
Tell the story of yourself, not just your work
In my coaching practice, I often coach clients through their This Is Me and case study presentation that’s asked for in interviews. They often present their work as a documentation run-through. …
Writing & Thinking
A mix of essays and commentary about design, innovation, technology, society, coaching, personal and leadership development. Since 1996.
Featured
Service Design 2nd Edition
The second edition of Service Design: From Insight to Implementation is out. Every chapter revised, a new organisational change chapter, new case studies, evidence, and thinking, based on over a decade of practice.
Read →Recent Writing
A Slopsided Marketplace
Many people use AI to write summaries and posts, yet I know nobody who enjoys being on the receiving end of them. It's a slopsided marketplace.
The AI sparkle is the new Intel Inside
The ✨ emoji that has come to signify "AI lives here" is the new Intel Inside sticker. Nobody cares.
The Importance of Project Closure
Jumping straight from one project to the next without closure is a fast track to burnout and missed learning. Project sunsets matter as much as kickoffs, and they don't take that long.
Leadership Renewal Retreat 2026
A small, intimate retreat for senior design leaders in Bergamo, Italy. Time away from performance mode to reconnect with energy, clarity, and direction.
For Work Conflicts, Try Couples Therapy
Most work conflicts are emotional at their core, dressed up as process. EFT couples therapy, the pursuer-withdrawal cycle in particular, offers a different way in.
Direction vs Micromanagemnt
There's a fine line between giving direction and micromanaging. Cross it and your team develops learned helplessness, and the quality of their work gets worse, not better.
More Writing
Emotions At Work
Would you rather quit than have a difficult conversation at work? Most conflicts are emotional at their core, and voicing that, carefully, changes things.
Politics Is Not A Dirty Word In Leadership
Aligning people, making allies, navigating governance and diplomacy: this is what politics in an organisation actually is. It doesn't need to be a dirty word.
Resolve Opinion Clashes With Questions
When opinion clashes at work, the counterintuitive move is to ask questions about intent, evidence, and governance, rather than pushing your view harder.
Stop Asking For Permission To Do Your Job
In a leadership role, nobody more senior usually knows design better than you do. At some point you just have to stop asking permission and get on with it.
Your Time is a Non Renewable Resource
Your time is finite and non-renewable. Unlike money, you can't make more of it. Worth keeping in mind next time someone asks you to work the weekend.
AI is a double polluter
AI is a double polluter: enormous energy and water costs for most use cases, and output that goes on to pollute the cultural commons. The bottled water analogy.
Asking For What You Want
Hedging and people-pleasing can actually be selfish: you''re making others decode your meaning. Learning to ask directly is a skill, and it builds confidence too.
The Four Seasons of Design
Constant growth with no fallow period is how burnout happens. Building seasonal rhythms into your work and year is how you stay productive without burning out.