Creative identity mindset shift #3: Make your team more dangerous

You can be a designer who understands, shapes, and aligns with the business without losing your creativity.?We're continuing?our series ?on actions designers can take to become business-minded.

When it comes to business, if you know the language, you can leverage it.

So if Action #2 was particularly difficult, it’s definitely time to level up your team’s business acumen – and not just their acumen, but their empathy.

If your team is able to not only speak the language of business, but understand the thought behind it, they will be able to translate the value of design much more clearly and effectively.

An MBA is not required

Although MBAs are nice to have, they’re not required to speak business. You don’t need to become a project manager, either.?

You just need enough information to truly get the business mindset. When you know what you’re talking about, you’re able to use the right language . Instead of just saying business words (or worse: no business words at all!), you’ll be able to clearly translate the value of design. The better you get at business, the more powerful you will be – more able to help others see the value of your work. Trust me: your business partners can tell when you’re slinging the lingo without a clue as to what you’re truly saying.

How much business information is enough? That depends on you, your team, and your org. But the basic must-haves are these:

• Understand your financial state
• Know whether your work increases revenue or decreases operational costs
• Learn the acronyms (including the metrics!)
• Examine your business model
• Ask good questions

Make friends with numbers

Although designers tend to flinch at the thought of reading a P&L (sidebar: P&L = profit and loss statement), financial acumen is an essential part of learning to speak and empathize with the business.

It’s essential that you and your team dip your toe into the financial state of your business. And then wade up to your knees, at least. (You don’t have to get in over your head.)

We’ve found that the folks on the numbers side of things are often enthusiastic about sharing their work with us. They want to help, so build new partnerships with them. Get to know them a little bit better. You might be surprised at what you discover.

Here’s a quick quiz to see how much of the financial side you understand:

1. How much margin does your company make on your product or service?
2. What is the cost to make that product/service available to the world?
3. What is the cost of running the business?

The answers to these questions are a map to opportunity for design.?

If you know 1, 2, and 3, then you’ll be able to pinpoint where design can generate more revenue and reduce costs. And that will make you dangerous in all the best ways.

Previous articles in our Creative Identity Mindset Shift series:

The creative identity crisis

Action #1: Speak for yourself

Action #2: Stop talking about quality

Want to grow as a leader? Here are three ways Design Dept. can help:

1. Attend a workshop ?to focus on a learning area, or?design a customized learning series ?for your team
2. Work one-on-one with leadership coach ?to tap into your creativity as a leader and transform the way you work with your team
3. Sign up for our newsletter ?to get design leadership wisdom in your inbox each week