Designers’ roles and responsibilities are shifting faster than orgs’ formal career ladders can keep up. But this is nothing new—career ladders have always been challenging to document.

Clearly defined standards are essential for fair evaluation, and yet… they don’t easily capture the special qualities and strengths that only you can bring to a role.

For October’s Loose Threads event, we’re unpacking the complications and contradictions of creating and following career ladders. Sara Wachter-Boettcher will moderate a panel discussion featuring three designers who’ve been rethinking their approach to career ladders within their orgs and their own careers.

We’ll explore questions like:

• What’s the right balance of equity and flexibility?

• What should be locked down? What should be up for interpretation?

• What checks and balances ensure standards are being applied fairly?

• How much energy should you, as a designer, put into checking the boxes vs. exploring work that’s meaningful to you?

And we’ll protect plenty of time for our panelists to answer your questions about career ladders: how to design them, maintain them, and when to adhere to them—or not.