Killer piece from Eli. Monteiro's attitude toward design employees has always seemed at odds with what he claims to be (a design advocate). One could literally replace every instance of "fire them" with "teach them" and Monteiro would look like less of a tyrant.

wow, the full talk is genuinely disturbing. i get that being shockingly negative Mike's schtick (because it sells), but having a web conference chant "fire 'em" sounds like a designer hate rally.

Glad somebody said it, getting pretty tired of the shouty white dude rhetoric of this overgrown windbag.

Just a hunch... but it might be worth him looking a little closer to home as to why his company is doing poorly. I know if I was unfortunate enough to be managed by him there is no way in hell I'd be doing my best work.

Eli is completely off base, and it's sad to me to see that Mike's completely obvious and necessary message is getting lost. Design professionals should stop looking at their own navel and start collaborating with the business, not against it.

And yes, I've worked and managed with a few designers that would get confrontational about business calls that weren't theirs to make, and I ended up firing them: best decision ever, the people that replaced them did great work, and helped me get home in time to be with my family.

Really interesting piece Eli, nice to see you exploring some other topics.

I'm all for re-enforcing the need for designers to create clear value for their clients and always be able to explain their rationale. I'm also behind anything that dispels the designer = artists myth.

But honestly, would anyone really want to work for Mr Monterio? Isn't morale important too, and developing budding talent?

Mashup vid on point

Designers were never given a voice at the table before. Designers have been taking orders from the management. Designers ass was on the line when they reasoned with the management. These days, handful of ego-less managements have given designers a voice at the table. But it's not easy for those designers whose minds and mouth were shut to suddenly come out and speak. It would take time for some designers to get back on track. Yelling fire 'em doesn't solve what Mike has set out to accomplish. Simply sounds immature. What's Mike's goal? To enable designers to sell their work, right? Then put together a strategic plan on how management across the globe should empower designers to have a voice at the table, otherwise the management should fire itself.

Has Monteiro ever wondered why his studio has seen such a drop of client enquiries? When I go to http://muledesign.com, I don't see any outstanding design work. Even worse, if I were a non-designer and potential customer, I'd be wondering whether this was the website of a design firm after all.

It is a particularly schlocky way to present this information, in my opinion, but otherwise Monteiro's deconstruction of the stereotype is valid.

That said, I've rarely come across the kind of working experienced designer that would persistently violate more than a few of these rules, because they really are contrary to the tenets of professional design (as suggested) and wouldn't make for a very sustainable career.

First, I gotta say: hell, yes.

I'm happy to hear that the work of designers and artists are being further polarized and the identity of a designer is being arranged into a standard of quality work.

Unfortunately, I still run into the problem of employers not understanding these concepts. I think too many people still recognize designers as pixel-pushing monkeys. The problem with that is that the designers you should fire end up being the ones that stay on because they make things look pretty and just try to do what makes the management happy rather than what's best for the user. So, until that mentality is also changed, we are still going to have some struggles.

While I love an extreme strong approach to presenting and getting your messages out there, it still has to originate from a place of empathy and caring, whereas Mike’s instead seems rooted in pride and contempt, bitterness even.

The greatest, most effective leaders are genuinely kindhearted people. They won't bring that negative, judgemental energy into their environment not only because they actually respect and value the people in it, but because it's simply not in their nature. They're just better people than that.

I idolized him when I was young/inexperienced, but slowly realized he'd become an awful example of leadership for this field. Yes he's had a good influence before, but these days his negative impact is exceeding his positive contributions.

Great article. Thanks Eli

Very odd presentation. I get where Mike was coming from but maybe the execution is what leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The chanting and excitement of yelling "fire them" seems very sophomoric for such a seasoned industry veteran.

Needless to say, we all make mistakes and have rough times. Maybe this video was during the depression time? https://medium.com/@monteiro/this-is-about-the-time-i-chose-not-to-die-3c2cc97cf769

I have never heard of Mike Monterio before watching the vids. He does have great points but also seems like he would be a crazy douchebag boss.

Where is their client portfolio? I would be weary of working with them as a potential client. It looks like all talk.