Ballet dancers and shot putters

Starting a career in design is like crash-landing on Mars. You may have studied it through a telescope, but nothing can prepare you for actually being there. One of the biggest surprises many new designers experience is that design isn’t always about coming up with the most creative solution. Sometimes, a well-worn pattern is the right tool for the job. For the new designers I’ve managed, the disappointment is often palpable: They wanted to think outside the box, but what we needed was in the box all along.