ABOUT Ben:
Ben Desroches has spent nearly 20 years managing people and projects across creative and technology industries, including web, mobile, video games, and other digital environments.
His career began with a passion for music and graphic arts, but over time Ben realized he was most energized by working with people. That discovery led him toward management, organizational structure, business communication, and conflict management.
Rather than viewing management as simply assigning tasks and monitoring deadlines, Ben focuses on creating environments where specialists can do their best work. His philosophy centers on communication, adaptability, understanding different personalities and cultures, removing obstacles, and recognizing that no single management framework works for every team.
For the past several years, he has also organized technology networking events in Montreal to help professionals across creative and technical disciplines connect with one another.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
How Ben went from dreaming of becoming a drummer to managing creative technology teams
Why graphic design eventually led him toward management
How a need for more human interaction shaped his career
Why communication became just as important to Ben as management itself
What nearly 20 years in creative and technology management taught him about people
Why creative industries require different management structures than traditional bureaucracies
How specialized teams create a greater need for communication and alignment
Why a process that works at one company may completely fail at another
How cultural differences can change the way teams need to be managed
Why managers should expect processes to evolve over time
Why you probably won't design the perfect workflow on your first attempt
The importance of actively asking teams for feedback
Why creative experts often need leadership rather than micromanagement
The difference between managing junior employees and experienced specialists
What old Industrial Revolution management theories can still teach us
Why repetitive work eventually hurts motivation and productivity
How too much specialization can make creative work feel like an assembly line
Why autonomy matters when managing artists, designers, developers, and other creative professionals
Why conflict should be addressed early instead of ignored
How small workplace frustrations can eventually become deeply emotional conflicts
Why managers don't always need to know the solution before addressing a problem
When HR can be a valuable partner in resolving workplace conflict
How different opinions can create better ideas instead of becoming a liability
What a slamming office door taught Ben about proactive management
Why sometimes the best management decision is simply removing an obstacle
The danger of assuming someone else has already diagnosed a problem correctly
Why leaders should investigate problems from the employee or customer's perspective
How AI is already changing Ben's everyday management workflow
Why AI-generated notes and content still require human review
How communication skills translate directly into better AI prompting and results
Why Ben doesn't try to predict the exact job title he'll have five years from now
Why adaptability may be one of the most valuable skills in a constantly changing creative industry
In This Episode…
Carl sits down with Ben Desroches, a management professional with nearly 20 years of experience across creative and technology industries, to explore the human side of making great creative work. Ben's career has taken him from music and graphic arts into management across web, mobile, video games, and other creative technology environments, giving him a unique perspective on what actually helps creative teams thrive.
Together they unpack why great management is less about rigid systems and more about understanding people, why processes need to evolve as teams and projects change, and why unresolved conflict can quietly destroy collaboration. Ben also shares practical lessons on autonomy, communication, organizational structure, cultural differences, AI-assisted workflows, and why the best managers often succeed by removing obstacles instead of telling experts exactly how to do their jobs.
Resources Mentioned in this episode:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benoitdesroches/
Sponsor for this episode...
This episode is brought to you by Epic Made.
Epic Made creates entertainment-quality animation, digital art, and graphic design to elevate brands and build fandom.
We are a collective of senior-level artists across multiple disciplines, producing trailers, key art, social campaigns, branded storytelling, and motion systems for entertainment, gaming, and pop culture brands. Our work has supported major networks and studios, including SYFY and Nickelodeon.
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