False Positives: Rules for contact sports

Via What they didn't teach me in Design & Usability school - UIWEB.COM comes Scot's rules for contact sports applies not just to designers but everyone. Here's a brief summaztion of the rules:

Get out of your office. Unless everyone in your world has the same job title as you...Get out of your office and make yourself a part of the team: not just a specialist.

Politics are real and not necessarily stupid... Sometimes it's for good reasons, other times not so good, but be prepared for things to change. If you are smart, you'll have an ear out for these issues so that you will never be blindsided, and possibly even a hand in their resolution them before decisions are made.

There is a bigger world than what you know: ..There can be engineering, marketing and business strategy decisions than impact the decisions you are making. Those decisions shouldn't be made without your input, but they may often be made without your complete acceptance. Understand what parts of the project you?re working on are in your control and which ones aren't. Know who is in control of the those areas that you are not. Build relationships with them. This will help keep you sane.

Design work is team work: Expect to share both the work and the rewards. Don't covet ideas, or have ego battles. Tthis will rarely help you or your customers. Take pride in the end results, not the pretty screenshots that are intermediary steps ...Don't join a team only to inflict your ego on them: it only makes everyone, yourself included, miserable.