Thinking Like a Designer Will Help You Decide Your Next Career Move

When an artist dies, the body of work left behind feels more prominent and cherished. This is particularly true when the prolific output has influenced the design profession for decades.

Milton Glaser, the graphic designer who created the iconic “I ?? NY” logo and inspired generations of creative thinkers, died on his birthday last Friday, June 26 at the age of 91.

Photo credit: Marti Konstant, Laguardia Airport

Born in the Bronx and a student of Cooper Union, Glaser founded two organizations based on his passion for design: Push Pin Studios shortly after graduation in 1954 and New York Magazine in 1968. Both of these current entities are a testament to his enduring ideas and work.

When I studied graphic design in college, we knew him as one of the most influential thinkers within the graphic design profession.

His beautifully styled art includes the sensitivities of fine art and sensibilities of commercial appeal. Some may remember his psychedelic Bob Dylan album cover or the stunning graphic created for AMC’s 7th season of Mad Men.

What I remembered the most, however, was a video interview conducted by Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project in 2014. Thanks to Jonathan, I revisited the wonder of how to think about life and a career through the eyes and brain of a treasured master. Milton Glaser: Certainty is a Closing of the Mind video.

Here are five ideas influenced by Milton Glaser and my own schooling in design to help you make a decision, make a move, or choose to advance your career.

1. When you do something that is guaranteed to succeed, you close the door to the possibility of discovery

This statement, a direct quote from Milton Glaser, is about the design process, encouraging people to take risks and explore vs. a guaranteed outcome.

The quote reminds me of what Carol Dweck, the author of Mindset, says about the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset. The fixed mindset craves predictability based on inherent fixed talent, while an individual focused on growth assumes there is much to learn and discover on the path to improvement.

When certainty is your base plan, you won’t stretch to develop new ideas. You risk stagnation.

Certainty is a closing of the mind —Milton Glaser

Referencing the Career Agility Model from my research, spectacular growth can take place in the face of uncertainty. A principle like A-B testing career roles, where you measure the difference between engagement and satisfaction in one role vs. another helps you discover your preferences.

Only then can you decide what is better for you.

2. Balance resistance and support for your ideas

Not everyone is going to like you or agree with you. There will be detractors alongside the advocates. As Milton Glaser suggests, “the contradictions are never-ending.”

When Glaser was young, it was necessary to balance his father’s concerns regarding his son’s ability to make a practical living with his mother’s relentless approval of his creative work. As Glaser said, it was the “ideal psychic environment for accomplishing something in the world.”

Learn to overcome resistance while relishing positive support

My career flourished when I stopped craving consensus and focused on the confidence necessary to withstand negative noise.

As a president of an association chapter, I learned you do not gain 100% approval of chapter decisions. At some point you have to stand by your decision. Assume the role of the deciding vote with confidence!

3. Consider foreground and background as you look at the work landscape

While listening to Milton Glaser’s philosophies about life and design, I noticed there are multiple ways to attack a problem or create a solution.

Recently, while taking a long walk through a city neighborhood, I came upon this bold mural. I thought it was three-dimensional. However, the 3-D part is an illusion. The painting is flat!

The pandemic has given us many filters with which to view what is happening and to ponder the implications.

?? Negative and positive space. Analyze negative space and positive space when solving a problem or considering a new job opportunity.

?? Foreground and background. There are obvious points in the foreground of any situation, yet when you delve deeper, you can figure out a more complete picture enabling you to consider all the facts. 

?? Simplicity. Viewing the simplicity of the black and white mural is a reminder that abstracting situations to key elements will enable you to communicate more clearly about your ideas.

The time is always right to consider the angles and contemplate the possibilities for your next decision or career move.

4. Make a choice and see what happens rather than worrying about getting it right

During the interview, Jonathan Fields, a writer and designer, expressed a common worry, “what if I choose wrong?” Feeling it is better to choose a direction rather than stand still, he thinks there are less and less wrong choices.

This is evident as I talk with job seekers and organizational leaders in the midst of the global pandemic. Consider Eric Reis’s lean startup method, where build, measure, and learn are balanced with ideas, code, and data to help companies get desired products to market faster.

This can be applied to job seekers in the process of exploration or organizations determining the best ways to open their doors for employees returning to the workplace.

Give yourself permission to be agile. "Experiment, measure, and learn," enabling you to make decisions, test the process, and make adjustments . The program is iterative, rather than constrained by a rigid plan.

5. Drawing is thinking

Perhaps one of Milton Glaser’s most famous quotes, this expression highlights the necessity of moving away from your computer to write down your thoughts in a notebook or to sketch out an idea.

Your sketches don’t have to be perfect to get across a concept. Glaser contends the ability to create ideas or sketch a thought is contained in everyone.

The difficulty is in seeing what is in front of you

As he said, preconceptions “blur your vision.”

When I first learned how to co-develop solutions with clients and facilitate ideas in real time, it was essential to “get to the whiteboard.”

The strategy was to step away from the conference table and slide presentation to start creating arrows, circles, boxes, and labels to engage people with stories and ideas on the white board. The act of drawing pulls collaborators into the creative process, in contrast to inserting a monotonous layer of bullet points on a slide between you and your collaborators. 

Whether you are considering a career move or ways to enhance your chances to grow in your current role, consider if one of these five design ideas will help!

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 If you want to learn more about my work, visit martikonstant.com. You can also download the 28 pg. Happy Profitable Employees white paper.

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?Konstant Change, 2020