Doctor's Note

A mix of essays and commentary about design, innovation, technology, society, coaching, personal and leadership development. Since 1996.

Navigating the Leadership Dip Book

Navigating the Leadership Dip Book

I’m planning a new book on the psychological experience of transitioning into creative leadership. From my coaching practice, I know the shift from IC to …

Fear & Anxiety in Stakeholderland

Fear & Anxiety in Stakeholderland

A common topic that comes up in my design leadership coaching is a difficult relationship with a senior stakeholder. For design folks, used to opining about …

A New Look

A New Look

I felt it was about time for an update of my website. It’s a bit more smooth on the transition front, has much better typography and also has a dark mode …

The Press Release Wizards of the Coast Should Have Written

The Press Release Wizards of the Coast Should Have Written

I’ve mentioned a few times in my newsletter and podcast that I play tabletop role-playing games, mostly the very famous Dungeons & Dragons. …

Meta and the Paradox of VR

Meta and the Paradox of VR

I sat through Mark Zuckerberg’s painfully stilted Meta Connect Keynote about The Metaverse pondering two questions. The first was why the team that puppet …

The Greed for Speed

The Greed for Speed

I often see the same symptoms in the first sessions with my coaching clients. They’re highly stressed, feeling overwhelmed, sometimes close to burnout, …

Shut Up and Do Something

Shut Up and Do Something

I wrote a little rant on LinkedIn the other day having heard same story from several of my female coachees within the space of a couple of months: Dear male …