I’ve had many discussions about the concept of leadership over the past few years with colleagues around the world; many of whom come from a range of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures that value different ideas about what it means to be an effective leader.

Alla Zollers recommended that I read the book Linchpins, Seth Godin’s latest book, noting the central ideas shared by Mr. Godin were the cornerstone of many of the things I have been writing, interviewing, and debating about within the UX community for the past several years.

As Seth Godin notes:

Do you remember the old American Dream? It struck a chord with millions of people (in the United States and in the rest of the world, too.) Here’s how it goes: Keep your head down. Follow instructions. Show up on time. Work hard. Suck it up. …you will be rewarded.

As we’ve seen the dream is over. The new American Dream, though, the one that markets around the world are embracing as fast as they can, is this: Be remarkable. Be generous. Create art. Make judgment calls. Connect people and ideas…and we have no choice but to reward you.

In short, be indispensable!

I’d like to offer a framework comprised of five central ideas I have used in a leadership position in every environment I’ve worked in for over a decade; while drawing a direct correlation to the five points shared by Mr. Godin.

* Everyone experiences a sense of individuality and self expression (Connect people and ideas.) – Ensure all team members understand their role and how they are contributing value to each project. Creativity is not born from a Groupthink. Differing ideas and passionate debate amongst team members should be encouraged.

* There is a capacity to express compassion to develop close relationships (Be generous.) – We are social animals. We need one another and rely on the respect and encouragement from our peers to stay motivated, ensuring we feel like a valued member of the team. Encourage the team to lean on one another and offer support whenever possible.

* A way of reacting with spontaneity, integrity, and integration exists. (Make judgment calls.) – Imagine a workplace where people could act on inspiration with team members who respect differing ideas with the ultimate goal of integrating the best of the best into new product or service offerings?

Policy and procedure is fine for coding and documenting; even a necessity one could argue. But how many innovative products or designs can you point to that came from following the exact same process again and again?

* There is a drive towards self-expression and creative experiences (Create art.) – Though it has been written about many times, we tend to lose the artist in each of us as we grow into adults. Yet children have this creative capacity in spades! As Ken Robinson outlined in one of the most popular TED talks ever given:

I heard a great story recently of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson, she was six…the teacher said she hardly ever paid attention but in this drawing lesson she did. The teacher was facinated so she went over to her. The teacher said “What are you drawing?” The little girl said “I’m drawing a picture of God!” The teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” The little girl said, “They will in a minute!”

Dave Gray and Dan Roam have noted several times at conferences around the world that you don’t need to be an artist to draw, whether you can paint like Van Gogh or not.

* There is an ability to reason and exchange ideas with others (Be remarkable.) – This idea is remarkable as many corporate cultures make it incredibly difficult to reason and exchange ideas with others.

Are you in an open office environment or is it “closed off” by cubicles? Does sending an email equate to being accountable in clearly communicating ideas or next steps in a project? Is there a respect amongst all team members, regardless of title, for ideas generated when solving problems?

Your physical work environment; relying on technology to communicate effectively; and a general lack of respect for others’ experiences and insights are three of the greatest barriers to be able to reason and exchange ideas with others, in my experience.

Would you rather work for a company that insists on creating a corporate culture of control and limited creative thinking…

Keep your head down. Follow instructions. Show up on time. Work hard. Suck it up.

…or would you prefer to wake up every day driven to create, inspire, and lead by modeling the behavior of…

Be remarkable. Be generous. Create art. Make judgment calls. Connect people and ideas.

It’s your choice.

I wanted to share a way of thinking about the User Experience discipline that I believe will help us evolve the conversation to that next level with businesses, including:

* Perpetually evaluating our understanding of the tools and processes that make up our respective (and very similar) industries. (UX, IA, IxD, HCI, etc.)
* Move the conversation away from the merits of a specific set of tools or processes
* Ask better questions of users and the answers we capture beyond the data points
* Come together and recognize, as Jesse James Garrett pointed out at last years’ IA Summit, that engagement is our collective objective or end state.

Evolving the UX Conversation from Jeff Parks on Vimeo.

Design communities of practice need to re-think what “community” means today. Though we may be more connected to others’ ideas through the Internet, true understanding cannot be achieved by a theoretical knowing.

We need to look at solutions that foster conversations beyond the antiquated mailing list in a manner that recognizes the impact different cultures have on what we collectively consider to be “good design”.

In workshops I conducted on Information Architecture in Kingston Jamaica, I asked people to brainstorm and sort products and services they would expect to find within a specific industry. Interestingly, they chose terms such as “Parish” to describe counties (in Jamaica) – though in North America this same term would delineate a community of worship – and “Deli” to describe the Vegetarian section of a grocery store.

Daniel Szuc, Principal at Apogee Ltd in Hong Kong, made a similar observation during the Interaction Design conference this year, outlining that one needs to fully immerse themselves in a culture to truly understand the values and lifestyles of its people.

Eric Reiss, Principle of the User Experience firm FatDUX, in Copenhagen Denmark recently blogged about the European community in his Johnny Holland article, The Man Without a Country.

Within each nation, there are incredible regional differences – a Dane from Himmerland sees the world differently than a Dane from Djursland. A Swede from Halland is different from one from Blekinge. Is Galacia part of Poland, the Ukraine, Austria – or Spain? In Zagreb, Croatia, they’ll tell you “The Balkans start on the other side of the river”. Dalmatia and Istra are Balkan; Slavonia is not. Most folks have never heard of these places. But that’s what makes Europe so exciting, right?

In an effort to illustrate this notion of a global community, I asked colleagues in South Africa, India, and Germany to describe what community means to them based on their experiences living and working within his/her respective culture. [Note: This was originally to be part of an effort for The UX Workshop, an effort that never came to fruition.]

Werner Perhchert ~ South Africa

Werner Puchert from Jeff Parks on Vimeo.

Afshan Kirmani ~ India

Afshan Kirmani from Jeff Parks on Vimeo.

Jan Jursa ~ Germany

Jan Jursa from Jeff Parks on Vimeo.

Based on all of these shared experiences from colleagues in the User Experience discipline from around the world, the following are suggestions for creating a truly global community of practice:

Dismantle Board of Directors This is an opportunity to gain trust by giving up control. In certain contexts it appears almost arrogant that a North American-centric Board of Directors, for example, would claim to know what was in the best interests of those in countries they have never experienced.

I don’t believe we need a small group of people to instruct the future of any discipline. In many instances this creates a myopic clique of individuals who, perhaps unknowingly, dominate conversations and the opportunity to share. Invariably, this empowers the few to determine what is most important for the many.

Lead with Passion and Purpose The only way for a community to grow is to provide people within a specific country the opportunity to meet and connect. People are the foundation of every successful venture. Imagine a global community of practice led by Werner in South Africa, Afshan in India, and Jan in Germany with the single purpose of conveying value behind the UX discipline regardless of title.

Share the Wealth Imagine a global community of practice that acknowledges and recognizes the unique needs, requirements, and expectations of different cultures. Practitioners in South Africa would undoubtedly have different requirements than those in New York City. Membership fees in most communities of practice is minimal. What if the global community of practice took the time to understand the needs of people in different cultures, countries, economic environments and provided money, resources, time, and mentors to those in developing nations?

In the 100+ people I’ve mentored over the past few years every single person, regardless of where they were located, talked about wanting to do meaningful work that would help other people. Who would not want to join a global community of practice under this model …knowing that their small contribution could help others learn from their experiences?

The workshops I led in Jamaica didn’t net me a large contract, but it did afford me the opportunity to learn from a culture who models the behavior of community in ways like no other community I’ve seen.

Leverage Current Technologies Skype, Facebook, Twitter, iChat, GTalk, Podcasting, Video…and the list goes on and on! Connecting and communicating with all nations is no longer an issue of cost. We can connect for free on Skype; with the ability to have meaningful conversations with people from around the world. We can share ideas on video and upload to search engines like YouTube to engage, collaborate and inspire.

Membership Fees This cannot be universal! Membership fees must be predicated upon the socio-economic status of each country, and its citizens. Who better to determine this membership rate than those living in that specific country? In countries where the economy is not as wealthy as developed nations, ensure that 100% of their membership fees stay within that community …and a small percentage of the global community’s fees goes towards helping that nation build their own local community of practice.

There is no questioning the value of a community of practice. These organizations have brought researchers, designers, thought leaders in government and business together who would not have otherwise had such an opportunity.

That said, I believe it’s time for radical change! We need to start “walking the walk” within every discipline. We need to understand that we can have a far greater impact on not just our own discipline, but the world we live in!

Control. Trust. These are the most daunting issues on the web, and in a reciprocal manner, business and government today. Many have argued with me that these have been the largest issues in all sectors for generations; and I don’t disagree. In fact, the tools that allow us to connect and interact with others have made the metaphorical global village, a reality. A reality that many senior leaders are continuing to deny.

We can’t evolve the conversation beyond the tools that make up any discipline, or worse, cling to a belief that the processes that worked even five years ago are still relevant to the way others are communicating both online and off.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is continuing to try and control the messaging within Canada, in spite of harsh criticism by Canadians. Now this should not come as a galloping shock that professional politicians are hiding the truth or trying to shape the message! #CallingOutTheElephantInTheRoom

However living in an era where people can share ideas with the click of a button, or upload videos in a matter of minutes to YouTube – next to Google, the second largest search engine in the world – such obsession with control is quite frankly, laughable.

The measure of a man is what he does with power. ~ Plato

A brilliant example of this new world, from a Canadian perspective, was shared by a good friend and colleague in Toronto Renée Warren: “Next is Now!”

Another great example of how connected we are, and how control is truly an illusion, is this presentation by Tom Scott (@tomscott). The story is both entertaining and disturbing – illustrating the speed at which we can share information, and the necessity to know who we can trust.

Mob (a near-future science fiction story) by Tom Scott from hurryonhome on Vimeo.

Two years ago that would have been implausible. Five years ago that would have been impossible. But if that happened in the news tomorrow would any of you be shocked? The world turns upside down in ten years and you turn upside down right along with it.

We need to strike a balance between the latest generations’ enthusiasm to share, with the wisdom of business and government officials who have worked in the same sector for 30 plus years.

It is imperative that both sides work towards a greater understanding of the others’ processes rather than argue over who has the better approach. Equilibrium can only be achieved if both sides make this effort; otherwise history WILL repeat itself.

I have been receiving wonderful feedback from my recent talk at Ottawa’s Human Factors group, CapCHI, entitled Being Human is NOT Quantifiable.

This feedback has come from business leaders in fortune 100 companies; senior directors in the public sector; developers; and designers from around the world.

The common theme of my talk was summarized quite well by User Experience Designer Alla Zollers on Twitter:

It’s about communication, not deliverables. It’s about understanding, not compromise!

This lead me to thinking about one of the most common practices in the development of any product or service, the meeting!

The idea is simple enough – get everyone together in a room to talk about the project and work together towards a specific end state.

And even though there are few who manage productive meetings, it is still one of the most common practices in both business and government.

The larger impact this has on any organization, beyond the delivery of a lesser product or service, is the impact it has on the corporate culture. In one of the funniest quotes from the movie Office Space, Peter quips:

It’s not that I’m lazy…it’s that I just don’t care!

Having worked in, and consulted to, “Office Space” like environments I wanted to share a “Meeting Manifesto” that I use to run productive meetings.

The purpose is to ensure the interdisciplinary teams that make up every sector today, are able to convey their ideas while respecting the experiences and ideas of others:

How we need to work together to effectively accomplish our purpose…

* Since everyone here has a valid perspective, say what you think. We need your open and honest inputs.

* Since it is difficult to tell how others see things, if something does not make sense to you, ask about it.

* Since being judgmental can impair the openness necessary for teamwork and understanding, try not to attack others’ ideas. Questioning for clarity is OK.

* Since it is easy to get off on tangents in a meeting, work to ensure that issues discussed relate to the topic at hand.

* Since developing our best thinking about the designated task is our primary goal, work to upgrade thoughts not words.

* Work together towards consensus.

* Expect from others professionalism through your demonstration of it.

This Manifesto is especially useful in corporate cultures where people are afraid to share ideas / experiences for fear of being ridiculed.

The rules apply to everyone at every level in the corporate hierarchy, very much including the leader of the meeting.

In 2007, I Co-Vice Chaired the local Human Factors group, CapCHI, with my friend and colleague Alan Frank. On my flight home from the third annual Interaction Design conference in Savannah Georgia, I was asked to give a presentation on Information Architecture.

After some thought I decided on a broader topic, one that would shift the focus back on the importance of understanding the perception others have about us, and the emotional qualities that make us social creatures by nature.

The ideas shared in this presentation are a combination of feedback from the hundreds around the world I’ve interviewed and mentored, as well as the insights shared by of other thought leaders in the User Experience (UX) fields.

In addition, I share personal experiences from many years working in the Health Care field helping people recover from Traumatic Brain Injury, teens in group homes, and pre-kindergarten children with learning disabilities.

I believe that all of the “UX” related disciplines have far more in common than some are willing to admit.

If we learn to balance our data obsessed corporate culture with an equal amount of creativity; compassion; and understanding the processes others value; I think we might just get back some of our humanity in the digital age.

As the result of many requests, you can now download an iPhone format of my talk. Please note, the file is 399mb in size as the result of the video being an hour in length.

Being Human is NOT Quantifiable from Jeff Parks on Vimeo.

Special thanks to Martin Polley over on Johnny Holland, publisher of Johnny TV, for adding this talk to their list of presentations.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Mad*Pow I had the opportunity to attend the third annual Interaction Design Conference and interview thought leaders and students from around the world!

Audio Podcasts from discussions described in this post are now available on Mad*Pow Podcast page.

My first discussion was an interview with Amy Cueva, Chief Experience Officer at Mad*Pow and Will Evans, Principal of Semantic Foundary. We talked about the many issues facing the American Health Care system and how technology and the sharing of data could aid in the recovery of patients.

Thanks to the efforts of my colleague and founder of The UX Workshop Chris Palle, we were able to record a video conversation on Research Design with a world renowned group of UX professionals I gathered on short notice; all of whom I’m honored to call friends.

From left to right in the photo above:

* Steve Baty Principal at Meld Studios in Sydney Australia;
* Eric Reiss Partner and Founder of FatDUX in Copenhagen Denmark;
* (yours truly),
* Daniel Szuc from Apogee Ltd in Hong Kong;
* Chris Avore UX Consultant and Principal for Erova LLC. in New York; and
* Indi Young who is one of the founders of Adaptive Path and author of Rosenfeld Media’s Mental Models.

This was a wonderful, unscripted dialogue that shared experiences and ideas from different cultures, projects, and conversations with both users and professionals alike.

The future, as the picture below would indicate as we stare into the sun, looks very bright for the design community. I wanted to focus on those who will be leading the way for our communities, regardless of title or process.

I was very fortunate to find four students attending the conference who took time to share their ideas and insights with me. In the photo above, from left to right:

* Anahi Bagu Msc Design for Interaction at Delft University of Technology.
* (yours truly)
* Vincent Steurs Masters in Interaction Design at Delft University of Technology.
* Katie McCurdy University of Michigan HCI grad student, user experience designer
* Laura Rodrian Interaction Designer and M.S.I. student studying Human Computer Interaction and Incentive Centered Design at the University of Michigan.

In an impressive demonstration of the brilliance that exists outside the speakers at any conference, these young designers shared ideas including:

* Designing to support the largest generation in North American history while simultaneously helping the Environment.
* Embracing the diversity of experiences outside traditional mediums to innovate like never before.
* Taking a leadership role to mentor high school students about what they are learning at college.
* Unimpressed by the “rock star” mentality of some and the hope that the biggest names in the design community will eventually reach out to students before they enter the field.

Then to wrap up the conference I had the pleasure of interviewing Greg Vassallo from Moment in New York City.

Greg gave an emotionally powerful talk entitled “10 Things I Learned About Being a Design Consultant While Living in the Hospital for a Year“.

In a true demonstration of courage, Greg shared the story of his newborn son Luca who was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia, AML. He went on to describe how these experiences impacted his life personally, and his subsequent outlook as a designer, professionally.

I’m thrilled to let the community know that Luca has recovered and is a healthy, active little man, enjoying life in the Big Apple!

Thank you again to Mad*Pow for allowing me the opportunity to share with others and to Morgan Kaufmann who has generously agreed to sponsor the podcasts.

I have all the patience in the world for those in life (personally and professionally) who work night and day following their passions, but just aren’t getting the break they deserve. You can lean on me 24/7 and I’ll be an ear and support that you can always count on!

However there are also those in life (personally and professionally) who do a whole lot of whining and make no effort to create the change they would like to see in themselves; the people around them; or their community. It is to these individuals I would like to say, borrowing from the rant/poem by Taylor Mali below:

…I have a policy about honesty and ass kicking; which is if you ask for it then I have to let you have it!

Taylor answers a question posed to him by a lawyer, “What do you make?” The lawyer of course is referring to money he earns as a teacher.

He goes on to demonstrate the real value behind his work as a teacher has nothing to do with his salary, but rather the impact he makes on the children he teaches.

This inspired me to share what I have made, and and am continuing to build for the IA, UX, IxD, and HCI communities:

* Over 125 discussions and presentations from thought leaders from around the world on Boxes and Arrows
* 36 discussions and ideas from the i.a. podcast
* Mentored over 100 newbies in the fields of IA, UX, IxD, and HCI from programs like the Information Architecture Institute Mentoring program and through connections on Twitter and Podcasting.
* Vice Chaired the Ottawa CHI group and helped raise awareness about this community through Podcasts and organizing their full day workshop in 2007/2008 bringing in Peter Merholz and Derek Featherstone to present, amongst others.
* Started Radio Johnny where I’ll be sharing ideas from thought leaders on every continent in 2010.
* Leading the strategic direction and future vision for The UX Workshop
* Built Follow the UX Leader Workshops teaching the fundamentals of User Experience Design, Information Architecture, and Writing for the Web starting in March this year.
* Recently took on the Canadian lead for the UX firm FatDUX to help businesses take on larger and more challenging projects with a resource of experts from around the world.
* Initiated the Ottawa chapter of the UX Book Club.
* Presented at Bar Camps and guest lectured at the University of Ottawa and Carlton University.

All of this in addition to running my own consulting company!

So for all of you out there in the UX discipline who are sick and tired of the “chosen few” who believe they are more important than the communities to which they belong … step up and be the change you want to see!

How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best!

Allow me to borrow again from Taylor, as if I were saying this to every member of every community of practice around the world:

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true! I make a God damn difference, now what about you!?

I have had the pleasure of attending conferences to interview and learn from the most creative minds in the User Experience discipline from around the world. (This includes the sharing of such wisdom through the i.a. podcast, boxes and arrows, and most recently the new series over on Johnny Holland, Radio Johnny.)

Today I’m proud to announce the launch of a series of workshops I’ll be leading entitled, Follow the UX Leader; teaching the fundamentals of User Experience Design, Information Architecture, and Writing for the Web.

At Follow The UX Leader we believe in learning by doing. That’s why we’ve created a series of workshops on advanced web practices that throw out the PowerPoint paradigm and shift the learning back to the way it was when we were kids: hands on …lively …interactive …and fun! Follow The UX Leader isn’t just about learning from experts in the fields of user experience, interaction design, information architecture and writing for the web. It’s about learning from others, sharing experiences and ideas, and connecting “the old fashioned way” – face-to-face. Because what we learn offline – holds the greatest value in defining and achieving success online.

In addition I have received generous sponsorships from world renowned leaders in the field of User Experience, including:

FatDUX (Denmark)
ClickTale Web Analytics (Israel)
Optimal Workshop (New Zealand)
Morgan Kauffman (USA)
Rosenfeld Media (USA)
MarsWorks (Canada)

Prizes will be given away at random to participants in each workshop from several of our sponsors. My heart felt thanks for their incredible generosity!

The first workshops on User Experience Design, People before Pixels, will be held May 11th and May 12th with only 20 seats per session, so sign up quickly to ensure your seat at the table!

I designed these workshops because I believe passionately that if we can learn to communicate more effectively within the varied teams that make up all organizations today, we can accomplish any goals we set for ourselves.

I look forward to the opportunity to provide you with the experiences and tools that will help your company achieve great success!

Eyes Wide Shut. The title of this twisted, dark film by Stanley Kurbrick is symbolic of the rapid transition that has been unfolding over the past few years. Our eyes are “wide shut” (we see it but are largely in denial) about the massive change that’s taking place every second of every day within business and government.

In short, both leaders and so-called “thought leaders” of the past and present are failing to realize the true power isn’t in your HR defined title, but in the capacity to create an environment where ideas can be born and grow over time.

Before the dot-com explosion we were better than we are today at communicating ideas with others in real-time. We had the patience, or perhaps without the tools we have at our disposal today, the expectation that creating great products and services involved trial and error and took time to evolve.

Even the ability to sit up and debate, sometimes passionately disagree, with colleagues and peers has been dwindled down to 140 characters on Twitter. A skill set that with every passing day is becoming absolutely critical to the success of both business and government.

Think I’m wrong? Fair enough. Check out this ad by HTC. My guess is after watching it you’re going to be able to relate to both the situations shown and the feelings of the actors within the commercial.

I know I’ve found myself in nearly every single one of these situations; demonstrating to me how tightly I’m bound not only to the technology but also the people with whom I’m connected.

It’s no longer about controlling the ideas or the conversation. Success will be achieved by those who see the value of differing opinions and work to communicate those experiences into everything they design.