The design industry worships gurus, but it's the realists who do the work
-
Moe Hachem
- September 27, 2025
The design industry worships gurus — but it’s the realists who do the work.
Most designers cycle through some version of this:
1) The Idealist (early career)
You leave school thinking you’ll change the world through design.
I was an architecture student. In architecture, it was brutal. Professors never prepared us for reality: that most work is spreadsheets, building codes, and maximizing developer profit margins — not social change.
You come out thinking: “I can be a tool for change.”
You end up realizing: “I’m just a tool.”
2) The Realist (mid-career)
You’re dragged through finance, politics, trade-offs, and budgets.
You finally understand the constraints — and how to leverage them.
This is the sweet spot. This is where design actually delivers.
2.5) The Disillusioned (burnout)
Fast. Polished. Professional. On the surface, you’re excelling.
Inside? Detached. Jaded. You’ve seen every mistake, know how to fix them, but you’ve stopped caring.
Not because you don’t care, but because you’re not empowered.
Ironically, this group often has the sharpest instincts for change, but no desire (or energy) to lead it.
3) The Guru (late career / status mode)
A privileged few make it here. They stop practicing, start preaching.
Detached from the grit of daily design, they publish manifestos and speak in abstractions.
Their reputation buys them freedom from pushback.
In many ways, it’s full circle back to the Idealist stage, but this time with clout.
Here’s the problem
- The field glorifies Stage 3.
- MBAs teach gurus as “innovation canon.”
- Conferences put them on stage.
- Book deals amplify them.
But Stage 2, the Realist, is where design actually delivers.
And Stage 2.5, the Disillusioned, could spark real change if they weren’t so jaded.
If we want design to mature, we need fewer gurus in lala land, and more realists and practitioners who thrive in constraints, deliver outcomes, and bridge design with business.
The future of design depends on who we choose to glorify (or not).
Or better yet, on empowering those who truly understand the day-to-day.
