My colleague said something last week that's been sitting with me: "You can post-rationalise any design decision."

He's not wrong. You can retrofit logic onto almost anything. Build a story around a colour choice made on instinct. Justify a layout because it "felt right." Present it all as strategic thinking.

But here's the tension: I don't believe that's how good brand work actually happens.

The in-house reality check

Working in-house changes your perspective. You see the same brand every day. You watch decisions compound over months, not just across a single project sprint.

And you notice what holds up. The work built on genuine conviction—on understanding why this typeface, why this tone, why this particular system—stays coherent. It scales. It helps other people make decisions.

The post-rationalised stuff? It fragments the moment someone new touches it.

Why conviction matters more than justification

As a designer, I operate from a belief: every design choice exists for a reason. Functional and emotional. Strategic and intuitive. It's built for one specific brand, one specific context, one specific set of people.

That's not the same as being able to explain it in a deck. Some of the best work comes from instinct sharpened by experience. But instinct isn't arbitrary—it's pattern recognition you can't always articulate in real time.

The difference between conviction and post-rationalisation is this: conviction guides the next decision. Post-rationalisation just defends the last one.

The leadership question

If you're leading a brand or a design function, this tension matters. Do you want a team that builds watertight justifications? Or one that develops genuine point of view?

Both have value. But only one creates brands people actually remember.

I'm still working this out. The conflict between making work that feels right and making work that sounds right in a meeting. Between trusting your instinct and being able to defend it.

Maybe the answer isn't choosing one. Maybe it's knowing which mode you're in—and being honest about it.