Nice Work: Imperfect circumstances

Hi there,

Pretty much immediately after we launched Per My Last Email last year, Sara, Emily, and I were already dreaming up a “Where are they now?” episode. The dilemmas people sent us—from emoji performance reviews to getting ghosted by your team after a layoff—stuck to us. We hoped so hard that our suggestions and support gave these folks comfort… and sparked change.

This summer, we reached out to some of them—and their responses were downright inspiring.

Take Deeply Unfair, from Episode 7. She wrote in about the challenges she was having with her head of design, who’d been swooping and pooping on the equitable hiring process her team had put in place. We helped her unpack her boss’s justifications, explore some alternative perspectives she could offer him, and weigh how much energy she was comfortable investing in trying to shift his beliefs.

When we reached back out, she had left the org, but said that our advice still made an impact. It helped her zoom in on the values she wanted to honor at work, which gave her job search focus. And she used our suggestions to help her navigate clashing values between her and a new colleague—pushing back without making herself personally accountable for their willingness to grow and change. “It just doesn’t feel like it’s my job, or it’s all on me to FIX EVERYTHING,” she shared. “It’s an uncomfortable feeling, but I cling to just how much relief it gives me anyway.”

Then there’s Love It or Leave It, from Episode 10. She’d grown from a brand-new content designer to a team lead—and was feeling stunted by the lack of maturity of her manager and her org. We flagged what sounded like a deep longing for growth—and encouraged her to get clearer on what that meant for her and whether it was possible in her current org.

She reported back that she had indeed started investing in her own learning and skill-building, but that an even more important realization had dawned on her: her identity was too intertwined with work. After calling out sick for a week because she’d lost all motivation, she started working with a counselor to understand what gives her meaning in the rest of her life—and began shifting more of the energy she’d been investing in work into her hobbies and personal relationships.

Hell yes, right?! And those are just two of the hopeful updates we heard. (Check out the rest in Episode 24.)

All these different outcomes reflect one common theme: the power of getting our worries and frustrations out of our heads, and finding new ways to move forward, even in imperfect circumstances.

Right now, imperfect circumstances are on our minds—they’re the backdrop of the findings in our new research report, Managing this Moment. In it, we evaluated how design managers are holding up in these deeply challenging times. The short answer: not well.

Yet… 25% of the respondents reported that they are finding ways to thrive in spite of the chaos of their orgs and the fields. And in their answers, we saw echoes of the advice we give on the show.

So...what are your imperfect circumstances?

As we start planning the new season of Per My Last Email, we want to hear from you about what’s getting in the way of your ability to thrive. Share your dilemmas with us, and let us coach you through them (anonymously!) on an upcoming episode. Here are the themes we plan to explore:

• I have too much work—and not enough resources. If you’ve been told to do more with less, how do you start to push back? Tell us about the pressures put on you and your team, so we can help you explore what your true priorities are and what sustainability might look like moving forward.

• My leadership is ineffective—or outright absent. When leadership doesn’t have your back, how can you take charge? Tell us about the challenges you’re having with your bosses, grand-bosses, or C-suite, so we can help you confront—or work around—these blockers.

• The culture at work is crumbling—and I need it to change. When your team is demoralized and demotivated, how can you hit reset? Tell us about the ways your team bonds are fraying or falling apart, so we can help you rebuild without destroying yourself.

If your current challenges don’t map neatly to these themes—submit ‘em anyway! Chances are you’re not alone in your struggles, and the answers we give will help other listeners, too.

Looking back on those early submissions, I’m reminded that change is possible for everyone. I hope you know that everyone includes you.

—Jen