A simple rule for developing breakthrough ideas On May 14 I spoke at the University of Washington on the use of process within strategy and design projects. During this presentation, hosted by design faculty member Annabelle Gould, I articulated what I see as the major tension within process: repeatable versus unexpected. That is, a process should be the result of a proven methodology that can be applied over and over again—you don’t want to have to make it up as you go each time you start a new project. At the same time, you don’t want the same process to start churning out the same results. Generating the same results is great for homogenizing milk, but not in creative endeavors. For us, new ideas are entirely the point. So we want an expected approach to yield unexpected ideas. That’s the tension. For creative professionals, a great process is a repeatable…
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I have a friend who believes that when it comes to movies dealing with critical issues, don’t watch it if you don’t plan on doing anything about it. His argument for this is that it just desensitizes us to a point where it becomes the norm to not react to the injustice that we’re seeing. Movies such as Hotel Rwanda or Blood Diamond. I have to admit that I saw both these movies and to his point, although deeply moved and disturbed by the injustice of it all, didn’t do anything about it. So when NBC Nightly News and Today did a news report on the crisis in Congo, I tuned in remembering my friend and knowing that I no longer wanted to ignore these critical issues happening around the world. As I watched, I learned that the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has caused more than…
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Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee Teacher, Ass-kicker
Last week J.K. Rowling gave an inspiring speech at the Harvard Commencement titled “The Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.” The entire address is somewhat lengthy but worth the read. Below are a few paragraphs that stood out to me. “Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.” “The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that…
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In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. Bertrand Russell Philosopher
If it matches the sofa it’s art. If it demands attention it’s culture.
Robert Williams Painter, Illustrator
Peguin Design Award winners and short list. Wired puts going green into perspective. Dubai continues to challenge conventional architecture. Charles and Ray Eames Stamps!
Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.
Paul Rand Designer
