There's usually a moment in every workplace project where someone leans over and whispers, "I'm so sorry about Sarah. She's just... difficult. We can work around her if we need to."

It always gives me a little giggle, but I say: "Sarah is exactly who I've been looking for."

In every project, I'm actively searching for the anarchist - the person who's going to object, who's uncomfortable, who's pushing back at every turn. Because what most people miss is that they're not trying to derail your project. They're your canary in the coal mine, showing you exactly where you need to think differently push harder, dig deeper to create a design that genuinely works for everyone, not just the easy-to-please majority.

 
The challenge: Turn resistance into advocacy

It's become my personal mission: find the anarchist and turn them into an advocate.

When we do our job right [when we actually listen to what they're saying underneath the resistance], when we push ourselves as a design team to solve...