No, you should not be your team’s “shit umbrella”

How it hurts you and your team

We’ll cut to the chase with this one: the “shit umbrella” is one of the worst buzzword concepts in the creative management space right now (up there with “feedback is a gift” — hint: it’s not).

Not to be confused with the “shit sandwich,” the “shit umbrella” means protecting your team members from confusing requests and nitpicks. In a nutshell, it’s when design managers filter all the proverbial ‘shit’ thrown at their team — from pushback to redesigns, last minute changes, and wasted time.

To be clear, this is different from gatekeeping sensitive HR or legal matters — these are often meant to remain private. The “shit umbrella” is more about gatekeeping designers from things that hinder their engagement or quality of their work, like leadership feedback or priority shifts.

But the “shit umbrella” is a trap. Though it comes off well-intentioned (what’s not to appreciate about the idea of a manager shielding their team from distractions?), it sets up teams for failure. For managers, it comes with all the extrinsic feel-good rewards — like having control and being relied on — that could trick us into reinforcing the behavior.

Whether you’re a seasoned lead or working towards becoming one, here’s why you should avoid the “shit umbrella” allure:

1. It’s not sustainable

It could feel empowering to know that we’re offering our teams protection by becoming everyone’s go-to for all-things big and small. Even when an empathetic thought like “they’re already busy and overwhelmed” results in overwork, that “protector” persona can put a positive spin on all the stress, long hours, and constant context switching.

But it catches up in different ways. First, it is a surefire path to burnout; the overbearing responsibility will make it hard to disconnect or recharge. Second, it will cause your team to view you as an opaque manager who hoards work, power, and control. Third, the context gate-keeping will make it hard for new hires to onboard and for seasoned craftspeople to level up into higher roles, leaving with you a team that requires more handholding than expected.

2. It’s bad for professional development

As leaders, we may not be designing pixels, but we’re designing teams and cultures. That entails growing and leveling up our people. When we shield them from the hard stuff, we strip them from opportunities to problem-solve, manage stakeholders, own design decisions… and ultimately grow.

Often, we assume what our team needs instead of giving them the tools to problem-solve on their own. When we help them find their own way, we empower them to act as owners instead of executors. Crafts people who lead their work end-to-end are more engaged designers; they’re bought into the products they’re building and the customers they’re designing for.

3. It won’t empower your team

We’re all familiar with the “helicopter parent” trope: an overbearing parent who controls their child’s every move, resulting in a coddled adult-infant that lacks resiliency, self-reliance, and a sense of adventure.

While managers are far from taking on parental roles (let’s keep it that way, please), the same idea applies to “shit umbrella” design managers. Just because you’re shielding your reports from something hard or challenging, it doesn’t mean there’s something worth protecting from. It turns out, a lot of the “shit” in the “shit umbrella” isn’t shit at all, but rather natural messiness that accompanies the design process. Our crafts people need to learn to work with this chaos — hard feedback, changing project scopes, stakeholder management, and their ilk.

Avoiding the “shit umbrella” trap

As experienced design leaders, here are some tips we can offer managers who find themselves concealing or withholding from their teams:

1. Guide, don’t prescribe. Just like with parenting, direct reports should be given the autonomy to roam, explore, and make their own mistakes. Show them the ropes and get out of their way. Let their creativity and problem solving skills shine.
2. Default to transparency when possible. Treat them like adults. Give them the real talk (where a situation allows for it) and do it often. Prop them up with the right skills, context, and knowledge; trust they’ll use them to deliver impact.
3. Delegate and level up. Embrace giving up some power and control; it’ll trickle down and make your team stronger. Your reports will grow and stretch with new challenges. As managers, there’s only so much impact we can have through projects or products, but we can broaden our reach by leading through others.
4. Lead with curiosity. When you find yourself taking on a “shit umbrella” role, ask yourself: What am I protecting my team from? Am I avoiding a hard conversation? Am I motivated by extrinsic rewards like power, control, and internal corporate glory? Or intrinsic rewards like leveling up my team? Make self-awareness your new BFF!

This post was written by Ibrahim Hasan and edited by LaDonna Witmer.

Here are three ways Design Dept. can help you grow as a leader:

1. Attend a workshop to focus on a learning area, or design a customized learning series for your team
2. Work one-on-one with leadership coach to tap into your creativity as a leader and transform the way you work with your team
3. Sign up for our newsletter to get design leadership wisdom in your inbox each week

Hiring design leaders?
Find standout candidates at our Design Leadership Talent Collective.

Hunting for a new gig?
We’ve curated a jobs board with 200+ fresh listings, just for designers.