Dane Howard – The Designer Parent Mindset

In 805conversations by Mark Sylvester

Talking about Impact and Influence

Be available for the work.”Dane Howard, Designer

Dane Howard is a designer, a dad and a friend of the show. We asked him back to continue our conversation about the importance of design in the workplace. Dane joined us in 2016 when we were first getting started, and we spoke about Design Thinking. You might want to listen to that show right after you’ve finished this one.

I am fascinated with design, in all its incarnations. Dane and I talked at length about communication skills and how he pre-visualizes partnerships and how his ear for adaptive and tribal languages can influence conversations. He’s keenly aware of how an organization feels, which is directly related to how people talk with one another.

As usual, Dane had drawn up his ideas on his drive down to the studio and shared the intersections of his dreams with his skills and how course corrections and forks in the road changed everything.

We also talked about Big Moments, his word, and how I refer to them as Taps (on the shoulder), with the takeaway being, you need to ‘be available for the work.’

Finally, we discussed the relationship he has with his daughter, Chloe, who was on the TEDxSantaBarbara red circle and has now launched the Stand Beautiful project . I know that a lot of our listeners are parents and how they shape and guide their children blurs the line between work and family. How much guidance do you provide and how much do you let them go on their own path. The two of them have found an excellent way to work together.

We may invite Dane back for a third talk at the table.