{"id":493,"date":"2025-11-17T15:29:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/?p=493"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:35:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:35:54","slug":"eos-traction-taught-me-what-design-hadnt-taught-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/en\/2025\/11\/17\/eos-traction-taught-me-what-design-hadnt-taught-me\/","title":{"rendered":"EOS Traction taught me what design hadn\u2019t taught me\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My Journey from Graphic Designer to Enterprise Designer (and What I Learned Along the Way)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I started in graphic design, I was making logos, posters, books. Then the internet arrived. Web editing, interfaces, UX, team lead\u2026 a classic progression \u2014 not very funky, but solid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then one day, I discovered that you could run a Design Sprint: five days to create and test an idea. I was hooked. The methodology, the posture, the collaboration \u2014 it was more than a workshop: it was a shift in perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the company I worked for adopted EOS Traction, a management system meant to better structure strategy, vision, and execution. Something square. Organized. Linear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I read the five books (available at the time) from the series \u2014 the ones for leaders, for managers, and for employees. I discovered a completely new way of thinking about an organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, I learned what KPIs really were, how to manage metrics, how to understand HR and management issues, how to treat and prioritize business problems, how to build quarterly plans, how to articulate a long-term vision, and much more. I now understood what people say around that famous, highly-coveted table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it still wasn\u2019t enterprise design\u2026 at least not the way I wanted to practice it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Article<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I had gathered a lot of pieces \u2014 but the frame was missing.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Between user experience, facilitation, branding, strategy, production, and a pinch of agility, I had checked many boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I kept running into the same wall:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you move an entire organization forward when you\u2019re not an executive?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a UX designer or Sprint facilitator, you bring ideas, you move projects forward\u2026 but rarely the organization itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, in 2020, I had a conversation that changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met Milan Guenther in Boulder, Colorado, at Google\u2019s annual Design Sprint conference. He was convinced that you can design an organization the same way you design a product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the world of enterprise design.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Article<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So why not make it a discipline?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What if it became a role, a posture, a skill set?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And more importantly: I wasn\u2019t the only one asking these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in 2023, EDGY arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s when the snowball effect began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDGY: Finally, a Common Language<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a difference between the discipline of enterprise design and the tool EDGY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And EDGY is the tool that lets us talk about it simply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDGY is six facets to look at an organization in all its complexity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Identity<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 why we exist, our mission, our \u201cwhy\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Organization<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 how we work, roles, flows<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Architecture<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 how things connect, structures and systems<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Product<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 what we build and offer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Experience<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 what people feel when they interact with us<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Brand<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 what the world perceives of us<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s a simple model, yet powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because it creates bridges between disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because it opens discussions instead of closing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because it lets you design the organization as a whole \u2014 not just work in your own silo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As a bonus, you can use EDGY and<\/em> EOS Traction together to increase coherence\u2026 and traction. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Article<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    OK, but how does someone become an enterprise designer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    There\u2019s no single path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I come from graphic design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Others come from enterprise architecture, change management, agile coaching, or product development. Some have MBAs, others come from finance. It doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The common denominator?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    An obsessive curiosity for how things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A desire to connect silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A drive to create meaning across disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You need to be humble, curious, and above all, people-centered<\/strong>. Not just customers \u2014 colleagues, partners, and your wider community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Does becoming an enterprise designer take twenty years of experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today at &friends, we train designers, strategists, facilitators, and managers in this emerging discipline. It won\u2019t take you three years, because you already bring skills, a profession, and experience. Becoming an enterprise designer today isn\u2019t about knowing everything \u2014 it\u2019s about connecting disciplines. It\u2019s about helping people take all the complexity of an organization\u2026 and simplify it, together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because yes: you can<\/em> design an organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And honestly \u2014 with everything happening in the world right now \u2014 having the skills and tools to transform an organization isn\u2019t a luxury. It\u2019s a necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    My Journey from Graphic Designer to Enterprise Designer (and What I Learned Along the Way) When I started in graphic design, I was making logos, posters, books. Then the internet arrived. Web editing, interfaces, UX, team lead\u2026 a classic progression \u2014 not very funky, but solid. And then one day, I discovered that you could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-edgy-en","category-enterprise-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions\/494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andfriends.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}