Professional Bio #
Joshua Graves is a hands-on design leader and the author of We Need to Talk: A Survival Guide for Tough Conversations (Rosenfeld, 2025). Equal parts designer and leader, he makes sense of messes and loves complex problems. And for 15+ years he’s built products, systems, and teams from the ground up.
He’s who people call when a project is stuck and everyone’s talking past each other, and he wrote the book on how to get it moving again. His background is human-centered design, psychology, and conflict resolution, and he teaches the same ideas in workshops in the US and abroad.
Earlier in his career, Joshua launched AwesomeGIFs, whose images are still in use all over the world, designed the first concussion-detection app for iOS, and created typefaces including Cosmata. See more of his past projects.
Personal Info #
Ok, now that the professional bit’s out of the way: I’m ever curious. There’s always something new I’m trying, or a new interconnected thread I’m spotting. In my spare time, I am:
- Restoring old iPods
- Making art
- Reading a lot of books
- Relearning how to play guitar
What People Say #
From executive leadership to junior-level practitioner, here’s what people said about my talks and workshops.
Joshua’s workshop really took some potentially painful situations and made them smooth and easy!
- Rad Summit Attendee
This should be required for every person at any company.
- OnDeck 2022 Cohort Attendee
Your workshop is the main reason I came to this conference.
- Rad Summit Attendee
Joshua’s workshop was really helpful for my new leadership role in my company!
- Productized Masterclass Attendee
Speaking & Workshop Offerings #
I’m presently focused on speaking engagements and workshops directly tied to my book, We Need to Talk. Here’s the synopsis:
Most teams see conflict as something to avoid. The best teams use it as a tool for growth. Learning how to embrace “healthy” conflict—without defensiveness, frustration, or avoidance—is the key to building better products, stronger teams, and a more effective version of yourself.
In this workshop, you’ll learn how to:
- Navigate hard conversations without escalation
- Use practical, equitable, and non-prescriptive methods to resolve tension
- Create a culture where feedback flows freely and teams thrive
Formats #
All of these workshops can be done in person or online.
| Format | Participants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Intro Talk | - | One Hour, Including Q&A |
| Half-Day | 4 – 40 | Four Hours |
| Full-Day | 4 – 80 | Eight Hours |
| Multi-Day | 20 — 100 | 16 Hours |
Selected Videos #
Events #
- Rosenfeld’s Design @ Scale 2022
- Agile 2022
- FiTC
- O’Reilly Media Online 2019 Class
- Rad Summit 2019
- PRODUCTIZED 2019, Lisbon
- Productized 2020 Masterclass
- Meetups across the US
Appearances #
- Convergence.fm
- Surviving the Human Experience
- Type, Form & Function – Jason Tselentis, Rockport Publishing
- Project Management for Designers – HOW Magazine
- Six Seconds or Less (PRINT Magazine)
- Notifications stress me out. (CBC Radio)