Why do we need a Flow Specialist

5 min readSep 6, 2018

Life instance — True Story

It’s a boring 2 pm afternoon. I have no work, haven’t had any new/ challenging for the past 3 weeks. The monotony is killing me though I am acquiring new learnings. To my delight, a colleague gets in touch for some urgent work on the 5th floor. As we head towards the Bay, he narrates the complexity of the situation. A team is facing web design responsive issues & they need HELP!

To give a context, I’m a UX/ UI designer(10+ yrs exp.) with a keen interest in web designing code. I love solving problems to the extent of having my visual designs replicate to web design. I meet the young team, manager & director. They gave a brief on their 2-day deadline situation with a bag of grave issues. They have explicitly declared the seriousness of these issues which once I go through, seem achievable in time.

During my work process, I faced a few problems. I understand that it would be wrong to judge given the 2-day work but it is what it is. They are more in space of Administration, Technical Skills & an Attitude problem. I will go through each point to have more clarity:

#1 I didn’t receive a dummy machine in quick time

Yes, I waited for 2+ hrs on an impromptu situation so that’s the least I can expect on a 2-day deadline. That’s not it, I received it after 3 days ultimately extending the timeframe. A general response to my plight would be

Mind your own business, you are there only to help.

I’m sorry. I can’t sit idle so I offer to share the web developer’s PC.

#2 The project’s architecture was poorly built

Too technical

#3 The project’s web developer was resistant to my suggestions

After my project brief, I asked to discuss each issue in detail. Now let me share a preface for an outsider coming in to work with an insider both having similar skill sets. This insider screams of insecurity. The feeling is replicated in his behavior, communication & skill sets. For me, I faced resistance as if I’m the British colonizing a new country.

The project’s web developer first asked me to solve issues. I go through them & jot down my solutions. As I asked her to show me the complete architecture, she suggests that my provided solutions will not work. Now, I do not have a PC, the web developer won’t co-ordinate & they have a tight deadline. 3 strikes!

#4 Lack of Dynamism & Energy

This connects to all the points above & much more.

A young team with a poor focus
Lack of a Leader
Haphazard Co-ordination

Long story short, I was machine hopping, ticked off issues in quick time & provided future guidelines for coding structures. I am thankful for my past Startup experience to give me the learnings of adaptability.

So, Why am I cribbing about my professional stint?

This instance however common relates to a bigger problem. I have faced this pattern at all of my past companies relevant to many projects in the Tech industry. If we go through the problem mentioned above or inquire on similar instances, there are two common traits — Linear Standards & Mental Roadblocks. These traits aren’t a tech issue but more of a human one. All CMM level 3+ companies have a process to follow be its coding standards, file management, meetings for decisions, compliances etc.

These processes however organized takes away the dynamism from an employee. It looses your instinctive thought forcing you to think within the cubicle. Thus you would only operate within the rules affecting your cognitive abilities.

In simple words, dull.

Running water never grows stale. So you gotta just have to ‘keep on flowing.’

- Bruce Lee

This famous quote from Bruce Lee can form a mantra in the Tech industry. Running water has its own way of finding a path. If there is one blockage, it finds another way. Our projects do come across those frequent moments of stale. How can we find the Running Water of our projects?

We need a Flow Specialist

This would be a new position irrespective of skill sets or horizontal/ vertical growth who should have the following traits:

#1 Multiple Skill Sets

He/ she must have numerous skills that surround the product category. For a Web App, a Web Designer having HTML, CSS & Jquery experience should have the working experience on Front End Framework Capabilities ex: Angular, React etc. A server-side experience would be a bonus. This would enable in identifying frequent/ probable loopholes within the system.

#2 Farsight Future

He should have a clear vision of what lies ahead. The Moore’s Law is well applied in the Tech space where every 2 years you have a new framework to work on. One has to adopt these new methods as well as expertise in time to be relevant within the company. Many employees fail to adopt newer technologies. The worse part is when you have the capability but are resistant to new tech. This could be a master of one/ comfort zone issue but one fails to realize that now is the time to be the “Jack of All Trades”.

#3 Diagonal Growth

A flow specialist would neither be part of a Vertical or Horizontal growth. First of all, he would not be part of one skill where he climbs up the technology ladder nor is accountable for every project in one skill set ex: UI Designer who provides design assets to all programmers be its desktop apps, mobile apps or IOT. He should grow in steps where he moves up in multiple skills related to a solution type to foresee the inevitable.

#4 The Omni-Leader

He would initiate the direction in the strategy phase. He should be approachable, dependable having a drive within & without any other support. He builds rules & principles which in turn become doctrines & the Gospel truth. In simple terms, he is not connected to one team but helping all to provide quick effective solutions.

The Plausible Problems

All this sounds pretty hopeful but it is far difficult to find people in this space. Not to mention the number of constraints with this specific job description. For starters, they would not be expected to work on a single project. So a Flow Specialist(FS) John could work on project A while FS Rueben could takeover after two weeks or rather wouldn’t have a need of one. In either case, all FS’s should be equally driven & in sync with the newer technologies. Their common goal would be to define a clear roadmap for any project.

All FS’s are equally responsible for not one but all projects in terms of roadmaps & principles. This removes the basis of work measurement having all effort in work but no accountability. We would never know how to bill an FS resource given the hourly billing system per project.

An FS has to be far-sighted which implies him/ her to be on top of the game. This adds a responsibility to acquire constant evolving knowledge & practical experience.

I would like to end with this prevailing thought hovering in my mind for quite some time & would like to see it apply to Big Corporations. Maybe these FS’s be it in Tech or any other industry could bring in the directional unpredictability lifting the spirits of a team.

To help all foresee of what’s in store for the future.