“Do you want a career in business or a career in design?” Yes.

Title: How Designers Are Building Careers in Silicon Valley
Context: Designers aren’t just designers anymore.
Synopsis: (Ignore the navel gazing “Silicon Valley” qualifier in the title of this post because it adds nothing to the dialog which, make no mistake about it, is incredibly relevant across the board regardless of geography.) For years, design as a career had a limited scope. You went to a consultancy and promiscuously plied your trade to the highest bidder, or you went in-house and traded vibrancy for job security. That’s because, for the vast majority of design professionals, there was a ceiling on your career path. Once you bumped up against the C-level floor you were done. You could become a design leader but certainly not a business leader (cue derisive VP chuckle and head shake). But this is changing. Rapidly. The link between business and design is increasingly inextricable to the point that executives (following the example of their patron saint Steve Jobs) are learning enough design lingo to be dangerous and expanding their “expertise” into the creative sphere in order to simply remain relevant. So what’s stopping us design-folk from behaving likewise and pushing our careers further into the business orbit? Absolutely nothing, that’s what.
Best Bit: The Role of Designers in Enterprise vs. Consumer Companies: “One thing I’d call out that’s absolutely critical in enterprise is this marriage between design and security. Certainly every consumer cares about security as well, but in the enterprise space it is a deal breaker.”

via kleinerperkins.com