Stating Your Position and Design

“Make your position clear”

This is something I tell young designers.

Stating your position means clearly showing your thoughts and stance to others. Do you support what is being discussed or not? Out of several options, which one do you think is best? And why? Put it into words. Do it spontaneously, even without being asked. Take your own position. That series of actions is what it means to state your position.

Become a participant, not an “outsider”

As you continue to state your position, the contours of your responsibilities and strengths will become clear. People around you will start to think, “If it’s about this issue, I should ask that person.” Conversely, if you don’t do this, you won’t leave an impression on those around you. Furthermore, you will be fixed in a position outside of dialogue and decision-making.

“In this project, I want to fulfill this role.” Expressing such an intention is also a form of stating your position. Instead of waiting to be given a role by asking, “How should I move?”, declare it yourself, and then shape the “meaning” of the work.

In design work, stating your position has a particularly heavy significance. There is no single correct answer in design. In the end, there will always be choices that won’t move forward unless someone takes responsibility and says, “We are going in this direction.”

In a workplace where no one takes that responsibility, things drift toward “a design that somehow seems correct” or end up based on “someone’s personal preference.” Stating your position is the minimum requirement for design to function, and it is also a skill to be honed from a young age.

Moving beyond followership

Early in your career, you achieve results by emphasizing followership—supporting others. Grasping the intentions of your seniors. Picking up on things that were missed. Making progress smoother. This builds trust and leads to the next job. For young people, this pursuit is the right choice.

However, there is a pitfall here. Your future growth does not continue indefinitely along that same line. It is not a linear story where if you keep polishing your followership, you will naturally acquire leadership. You will reach a limit unless you change your mode at some point. There is a time to switch your behavior.

To be clear, this is not about discarding followership. An excellent follower should not be someone who is just obedient. While actively participating, you are also examining things with your own mind. Only when both are present is support distinguished from mere compliance.

Whether you move into management or deepen your expertise as a specialist, stating your position is equally necessary. Expertise can only be conveyed to others through stating your position. If those around you cannot see “what that person can do,” the skills you have polished may end up lying dormant, unused.

Beware of the comfort of being “used”

Around your third year in your career, you enter a period where you hit your stride as a designer. You can move your hands. You can read the workflow. Your quality becomes stable. Then, requests for support from those around you will increase rapidly.

A workplace where such members help out is truly helpful. You are appreciated. You feel relied upon, and your sense of self-efficacy increases. It is not a bad time.

However, if that state continues, you will get used to a workplace where “daily life goes on even if you don’t clearly state your position.” In a field of intellectual production like design, if you “have no opinion,” the initiative will not come your way. You will end up, against your will, in a structure where you are used by others.

And important experiences will slip away. The experience of presenting a hypothesis yourself, moving those around you, and verifying it. The experience of finding your own unique pattern of delivering value through that repetition. The experience of showing that pattern and creating a project that only you can make. Time will just pass by without you going through such a process.

First, “react” firmly

So, how can you acquire the power to state your position?

The first thing to be conscious of is to provide a solid "reaction".

For example, suppose you are the facilitator tasked with passing a proposal created by a senior colleague or supervisor to someone else. If you just pass it along without a second thought, you won't develop the habit of stating your position. By adding even a single drop of your own perspective to the act of receiving and passing it on, the landscape changes.

It doesn't have to be a sharp opinion. Mention which points you found helpful or what you felt was excellent. If possible, add "why you thought so." There may be times when you can't put the reason into words or when speaking it might cause friction. In such cases, it is fine to just analyze it in your head. That decomposition process will eventually become the foundation for building your own proposals.

That said, it is nerve-wracking. Your palms might sweat. Giving feedback on a superior's proposal feels like having your level of understanding graded. You might worry about being off the mark. That feeling is perfectly normal. I felt the same way.

However, the person receiving your feedback isn't trying to judge the sharpness of your opinion. They welcome the fact that a reaction was returned at all. The person who handed over the proposal is most anxious about silence, and they tend to view a reaction positively as a chance to further refine their work. Just knowing this asymmetry should make things a little easier.

You feel reluctant because you are trying to prepare the perfect opinion. One sentence is enough. If you can't say it in the meeting, a chat message afterward is fine. What matters is not the volume of your voice, but the frequency.

If you can't think of an opinion, it's because you're looking for impressions

"I can't think of an opinion in the first place." Many people likely feel this way. This is not a problem of courage, but a problem of materials.

When we can't come up with an opinion, we are usually looking for "impressions." Like or dislike, good or bad. With this way of searching, you won't come up with anything while you are inexperienced.

Instead, try borrowing one judgment criterion: "Who does this plan benefit, and how?" If you measure it against this question, you will always find something to say. If you have a criterion, you can speak up even if you lack knowledge. Even if your statement based on that criterion is off-base, it is still useful for the discussion because the other party will open up the background by saying, "I'm thinking about it from this perspective."

Once you get used to it, develop the habit of "questioning" in your own way. Is this premise really okay? Is there another angle? Are there other options? What is important here is that questioning is different from judging correctness. Asking, "Where does this premise come from?" is also a valid form of "questioning." You can formulate questions even without knowledge. There are distortions that only someone who doesn't share the premise can notice.

Do not just pass work along without thought. That is equivalent to throwing away opportunities for growth. Anyone can pass things along. There is no necessity for you to be there if that is all you do.

Will I be thought of as cheeky?

This is where many young people stop. Where is the line between stating your position and being rude? Will I be disliked for being cheeky?

In my view, the line is not in the strength of the statement, but in where it is directed.

Statements made to make yourself look big sound like intrusive behavior, no matter how modest they are. Conversely, statements directed toward the results will not sound that way, no matter how strong they are. Is the subject closed with "I," or is it connected to "this plan" or "this objective"? Before you speak, just check where it is directed. You can avoid most problems that way.

(To be honest, many seniors who are more than a generation older often think, "It's fine for young people to be a little cheeky." You should only worry about being thought of as cheeky when dealing with seniors or colleagues close to your own age.)

One more thing. It is a fact that there are people who have no intention of listening. There are workplaces where the atmosphere becomes stiff if you offer a dissenting opinion. In such places, it is not that you are timid, but that the environment is closed. Do not take that on as a problem with your own personality. If you can't say it in a meeting, start with a dialogue with one person you trust. If verbal communication is difficult, leave it in text. Choosing someone who will respond to you is also a valid tactic.

At the end of the day, put it into words

There is one more important thing. It is to verbalize your reflection on the day.

The insights you felt that day. The moments that didn't go well. The electrical signals in your brain that you couldn't fully articulate as a stance. Why did you think that way? Even five or ten minutes a day is fine. Ruminate on it and put it into words. Solidify the things you reacted to. That accumulation becomes an asset that determines your proposals as a designer.

Trivial but significant insights will be forgotten if left alone. Unless you put them into words, they will just fade away like a hazy, fleeting impression. You end up with nothing more than "it felt kind of good" or "it felt a bit off." Our job is to translate that very "something" into words and forms that can be shared with others. I think leaving this unattended is fatal.

I personally write reflections every day in a way that is visible to everyone at Concent. It's not just me; many members write them. It is already a habit of the organization. The act of making them public serves as a "run-up" to gradually expose yourself and make it easier to state your position.

Some companies may not have such a culture. But you can start this even by yourself. Just by writing with the premise that someone will read it, your words will be shaped into a form that reaches others. Eventually, when readers appear, your views will be pitted against each other. This is the moment when individual introspection turns into organizational knowledge.

Stating your position strengthens organizational decision-making

Individuals stating their positions enhances the power of organizational decision-making. In fact, it is fair to say that in organizations where stating a position is weak, the "responsibility" of choosing becomes diluted. Even if the optimal method could be taken, the will of the person making the choice is weak. That is why there is no execution power. What was supposed to have been decided melts away in the field.

Discussions where positions are weakly stated appear at first glance to be calm and democratic dialogues. No one asserts themselves strongly, no one is offended, and it takes time to reach a consensus. It looks healthy.

However, what is happening there? Because there is no mutual statement of positions, the discussion remains on the surface and does not reach the core. Even though they are not enthusiastic internally, they misread the other party's silence or lack of will as "agreement" and land on an unwanted conclusion. It only looks like a consensus because no objections are raised, but no one's will is included. They just think they are participating in decision-making, while they are actually just standing by as spectators, with no sense of responsibility. Such decisions erupt with dissatisfaction and anxiety at the execution stage. While paying the maximum cost for consensus building, the accuracy and level of conviction are low.

Stating your position consumes energy. It is mentally and physically exhausting. It leaves you drained. But you must not run away. You must not take the easy way out.

This point has become even more urgent with the advent of AI. We are now in an environment where we can generate as many logically correct-looking options as we want. Proposals, grounds, and comparison tables all appear in a few minutes. Correctness has rapidly become oversupplied.

The value of things that are oversupplied decreases. What becomes rare is the will and courage to take responsibility and say, "We will go with this plan." If no one states their position, the organization will adopt the safest plan without anyone's will behind it. With such a choice, you cannot persevere in the execution phase.

Decision-making also drifts outside of authority

Organizational decision-making looks at first glance like a disciplined procedure carried out within a pyramid structure. There are positions, approvals, and it flows from the top down.

However, reality is more amorphous. There are times when decision-makers do not perform the act of "deciding." Conversely, there are times when people without corresponding authority move the organization by stating their position and presenting sharp hypotheses. That is nothing less than the fact that they are becoming a party to the decision-making.

Important information within an organization cannot be obtained by waiting. It is not distributed fairly or equally. And information gathers where people have opinions. This is because people want to talk to those who will give them a response.

No one goes out of their way to give sensitive information to someone who is unresponsive. Stating your position is an antenna for receiving information and a sign that invites involvement in information and decision-making. The information gap returns directly as a difference in work results.

Being an "enabler"

In recent years, there has been an argument that designers should shift from being "problem solvers" to "enablers" (supporters for realization). They are beings who promote dialogue and collaboration among people, supporting them so that they can create change with their own hands. From those who have the answers to those who create a place to search for answers together. I also sympathize with this direction.

The habit of stating your position does not contradict this argument.

A person whose stance is invisible cannot open up a space. Being neutral is different from being colorless and transparent. Participants will not entrust their true feelings to a facilitator whose values are not conveyed. And the role of casting the first stone in a space where no one speaks must be taken on by someone. Only after one "I think this" is placed can others say, "No, I think differently."

However, there are also branches. The same statement can open up a space or close it. There are two ways to distinguish this. One is whether you present it as a decision or as material. If you hand it over by saying, "I'm putting this out as a draft," rather than "This is what we're going with," you leave room for counterarguments.

The other is who says it. If someone with authority speaks strongly at the beginning, it easily becomes a form of guidance, whereas if someone without authority speaks first, the space tends to open up. A young person's statement of position is structurally unlikely to act as guidance. This is a part you can feel secure about.

Saying it isn't the end

Finally, I would like to touch upon a point that is easily misunderstood.

Stating your position is not "saying it and being done with it." No matter how you look at it, there is an aspect where it is merely a selfish personal opinion. Therefore, if you realize later that you were wrong, you can just correct it at that time.

However, I will write this honestly. It is not a simple matter of saying that if you just state your position, your credibility will not decrease. If it decreases, it is not because you were wrong, but because you left it unverified and refused to take responsibility. State your position, verify it, and correct it if necessary. As long as this back-and-forth continues, the number of mistakes will not count against you. You could even say that the resolution of your judgment increases with every round of this back-and-forth.

If you try to say the right thing, you will become unable to move. Correctness comes after dialogue. Many people lead with intuitive judgments or statements of position, then later flesh them out or verify them with logic, refining them while making course corrections.

The words you use to state your position become a flag that moves you yourself. They become a driving force that pulls your will forward. Your own words become the environment, and you yourself are influenced by that environment. And then, that influence spreads to those around you.

What is important is to state your position. By stating it, design is activated within the organization. Unless someone says, "This is good," intellectual creation will not begin. You become the starting point. I believe that stating your position from your early days is training to make that attitude a natural part of your being.

Today, try adding just one word of your own perspective to someone else's output. From there, the landscape will begin to change.

Photo by Maxim Berg on Unsplash