leadership team, this shouldn’t be the first time • Own the challenges and risks. Your team will Part IV: they are hearing about this idea. At the same time, conclude on their own that category design How to Talk With don’t press your team for immediate feedback. Be won’t be easy. But if you gloss over that, you risk patient. Give them time to unpack what you’ve looking like you haven’t thought things through. Your Team About presented. This is a big decision for your company Instead, build credibility by being upfront about and requires a thoughtful approach. the hurdles you’ll face. In my own presentation, Category Design • Hear out questions and concerns. You’ll be I concluded with a slide that showed a picture of (and Get Them much more likely to get support if everyone on Mount St. Helens exploding. The caption read, your team feels heard. Better to get things out on “Category design is dangerous. You can use it to Excited) the table now, instead of midway into the project. destroy your enemies, but if you mishandle it, it You’ll probably hear points you hadn’t considered, can blow up in your face.” too. For example, a few people on our team were • Have fun. Just because you’re talking about worried this would be a “flash in the pan” that something serious doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy didn’t stick, which I hadn’t considered. With that some laughs along the way. Especially if your team knowledge, I can work on ways to ingrain this way gets into a heated debate, a bit of levity can go a of thinking into our work. long way. • Provide a timeframe for deciding. Once you’ve 5. Create a task force made the pitch, agree on a specific date for regrouping and making a final decision. Don’t Your next job is to create a team of people who can push this too far out, or you’ll lose momentum. dedicate themselves to helping your company move We decided at our quarterly offsite, just a couple forward on category design. You might assume that the of weeks afterward. category design discussion can simply be a part of your • Be clear on the timeline and next steps. If your regular leadership meetings, but I don’t recommend it. team doesn’t know what will happen next, it’s hard Here are three reasons why. for them to feel confident in moving forward. You A task force can devote more attention to category don’t have to have every last detail mapped out, but design. A special-purpose task force gives the category providing a high-level overview will go a long way. design process more weight. If it’s merely an agenda If you’d like a walkthrough of the category design item among other discussions, then it’s not as likely to blueprint we created for our team at BombBomb, get the attention it needs during your regular leadership send me a message and I’ll be happy to walk you meetings. through it. A task force is more efficient. Your leadership team • Don’t present until you’re sure of the outcome. might be too large to have productive discussions Just a good lawyer doesn’t take on a case unless around category design. I recommend a group of she’s confident she can win, you don’t want to have around 5-7 people (make sure your CEO is one of them). this discussion unless you’re fairly sure your team You’ll want representation for each department, but a will be on board. Ideally, they already will be, from group small enough to move quickly. the individual discussions you’ve had well ahead A task force ensures you have the right people. There of time. might be people you want to bring into the category The Newcomer’s Guide to Category Design 32