I currently live in Salt Lake City Utah with my wife, two teenage boys, and Skye (my dog). I love all things outdoors. I’m an avid snowboarder (even more avid split boarder!), and living near the mouth of the Cottonwood Canyons gives me the opportunity to sneak in a few runs before the work day begins.
I originally went to the Academy of Art to become a fine artist or Illustrator. That changed the moment I touched a computer and found that I could realize my ideas so much faster with a mouse and keyboard. I've recently returned to the paintbrush as an additional creative output. Check out my work at www.ja-watercolor.com
I see management as a job function. When hiring a team, I look for subject matter experts that I consider peers. As a team, we make decisions that affect our overall success.
My role is to mentor, give guidance and support when needed, as well as provide guardrails to ensure the decisions being made align with the company objectives. As a leader I may be responsible for the performance of the team. I feel that by empowering individuals so that they feel ownership over their work leads to high output and an overall happier team.
I believe in a flexible user centered design process that allows the designer to utilize their strengths to solve problems. When an organization holds a single process too tightly, more energy is spent checking boxes or updating status documents than doing the work.
Process is important, but requires flexibility to ensure the appropriate balance between doing the work. I like the idea of having an "a la carte" menu of steps in a process, where the cross-functional team agrees to which steps are required as part of the project definition. This allows for the process to be followed, but is balanced with the size and overall impact the project will have.
