Billy Clarke as a design leader

Design is a commercial function. It needs to drive relevant benefit for an organisation—not just aesthetics. I act as the custodian who balances commercial objectives with customer needs and employee satisfaction.

I help organisations to consider beyond mere products and journeys, and instead to consider the entire system of the customer lifecycle. I do this by orchestrating the very people, processes, and technology involved.

Seldom do I find myself stuck in decision paralysis. I'm very deliberate. I make strategic decisions carefully and with thorough thinking. Whereas, tactical decisions with urgency and a view on progress. Decisiveness is the key.

Chaos and indecisiveness kill creativity. Frameworks and workflows bring structure to solving problems and exploring opportunities. My proprietary frameworks are systemised. The workflows help teams achieve more with less with precision and predictability.

Where design sits within an organisation dictates its influence. I structure teams to maximise impact. Reporting lines, decision-making authority, and team composition all shape how effectively design integrates with the wider business.

Design doesn’t speak for itself—people do. I ensure designers have clear, structured communication pathways to share insights, advocate for decisions, and align with cross-functional teams. I am the connector of teams across the organisation.

I believe rewarding expertise encourages better work from experienced team members. By providing them with the right support, I can help those aiming for creative mastery or developing along the management path.

I ensure my teams operate at their best by setting clear expectations for each role. By concentrating on what roles are supposed to achieve through which activities it becomes far easier to measure their performance.

I challenge teams to confront their conditioned thinking and learnt behaviours. I favour breaking the complex and complicated into their most basic elements, looking at them from all perspectives and then progressively building them back up again.