Design Departments are Corporate Anomalies

Fact: Design departments are corporate anomalies.

In most corporations, though Design departments may exist, they are the black sheep of the family and as such, can become the hot potato on an org chart.

Months back in a conversation with my good friend John Gleason, I was shocked by the statistics he shared from the proprietary research conducted by his firm, A Better View, to just how many Design teams report into another function.  Per the study, 86% of the 239 organizations researched have Design organizations reporting into Non-Design functions: Engineering, Innovation/R&D, Product, etc.

Meaning, Design departments that were already outcasts in many companies, now report into groups that don’t know how to lead them let alone how to collaborate to bring the roadmap and products they’re all responsible for to market successfully.

Why? Reasons vary by situation, of course. At the macro level departmental consolidation saves the cost of expensive exec headcount. At the micro level, as Design got and subsequently lost its "seat at the table", the value of what it provides to a business has gotten murky.

The solution? You can be an anomaly but still be critical to an organization, so the key becomes A) departmental leadership that can credibly speak the language of business and B) demonstration of alignment to company objectives and outcomes.

Design has had a tendency to fall so in love with the craft to lose sight of the consequences. Finding that balance ensures a regain in indispensability without having to sell your soul to the devil.