What were you wrong about?

I didn’t think Barack Obama would be elected president because I thought America, at that time, was too racist. I didn’t think Donald Trump would be elected president because I thought America, at that time, wasn’t down with a bigot, misogynist, and liar for the highest office in the land. I also didn’t think I’d ever stop buying Compact Discs. 

I’m getting way into Chuck Klosterman. Currently reading But What If We’re Wrong? And subsequently thinking about all the stuff I’ve been wrong about in my life. From political predictions to musical delivery mechanisms. Maybe I’ll post more about such things. Or not. Hard to say, as I’m not really into make predictions at this time.

Potential Topics

1. Oversell, Undersell (Trying to find a balance.)
2. On the News (If I didn’t design, I’d study media.)
3. Hustle, Scratch That (I’m so tired of hearing about “the hustle.” It’s total crap.)
4. The First Black Bachelorette (Yeah, I watch The Bachelorette with my wife, what of it?)
5. This too shall pass. But will it? (On our current state of affairs.)
6. The First Dotty Old Racist President (I mean, he’s the fucking worst.)
7. On Preferences (We think we know best, but do we?)
8. On Criticism (If you think you can get anywhere without it, you’re sorely mistaken.)
9. I Miss You, Barack (America sucks right now. I know, I know, didn’t it always?)
10. What do you want to spend most of your time thinking about?
11. On Bullshit (I think we all need to turn up our self-assessing bullshit meters. I mean, have you listened to us lately?)
12. The 12 Apostles (Kidding!)
13. Superstitions (Why are these still things?)
14. Optimal Length Podcast (Why go longer than 45 minutes? Why?)
15. DAMN. (Album of the decade.)
16. Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever slept?
17. Trying to have it all gets in the way (Definitely.)

These and other topics are things I’m thinking I should write about. But I’m just not very much in a writing mood. So instead, they exist as pithy little 1-liners. At least for now.

Look Away

We are living fully immersed in “Look Away” politics. Outrageous lies, deception, and alternative false views of reality. All done to distract us. To keep us confused. To make sure we do not see what is really happening. Power to the People? Na, to them it’s power for the wealthy only. We the people must fight back, must not be distracted, must not look away.

On Scarcity

Fear of sharing power leads to a halting of progress. If I allow someone else to gain, then I don’t lose. Not at all. There is enough to go around, trust me. Working to improve your community comes with sharing your power where it can actually be utilized. It starts with you, and then it connects with others. Systemic problems have all been designed, and they can be redesigned to be more equitable. And we can design what the redesign is, together. 

Workshopping the Workshop

What makes a good workshop experience? I’ve participated in some solid workshops. I’ve helped facilitate ones as well. Thinking about how to appropriately structure a workshop is an interesting design problem. As of now, I feel like I can get behind the following items as positive aspects of a workshop:

• The facilitator establishes the tone. And holds it.
• With the tone set, everyone can then start together from a common understanding of the problem the participants are trying to solve.
• Time is used in a variety of ways. There is listening and talking, sitting and standing. We work together and we work alone. We discuss, present, and get feedback.
• There is a diversity of attendees. (race, gender, age, sexuality, background, occupation, and so on) 
• Approaches are arrived at together.
• Everyone leaves with clearly defined action items.

I haven’t formally been trained in facilitation. I’ve dabbled. But it is something I’m becoming more interested in and see as part of a secondary set of skills I would like to continue to hone. To me, it fits nicely into the tools needed to be a graphic designer today. I would say more so than learning to code. To make ideas happen, from concept through to execution, knowing you’ll most likely need collaborators along the way, anything you can do to enhance your skills as a communicator of ideas is a good thing.

Do Not Think You Know Best

Because you don’t. A topic in a couple places of Michael Bierut’s presentation last week was a challenge to the notion that designers always know best. They know the best type, the best visual, and the best overall solution to the problem. This can be the case, but not always. Michael Bierut has experienced this. I’ve experienced this. Many times. The client or another collaborator brings the solution. It’s not uncommon. And you, the designer, need to be listening enough to recognize and grab hold as needed.

Everything Needs Effort

A big push. A heave. A dig-in-your-heals-and-muster-your-will effort to move the idea up the mountain. The execution. There is no shortage of ideas. No shortage of good ideas even. There is, however, a shortage of people putting in the time needed to make good ideas happen. This has been said before. I just want to say it again here. 

To go further, ideas need collaborators. Rarely do great ideas become reality by the force of one person alone. And sometimes you need a way to prioritize what you’re working on. I know I use this method. It goes as follows:

Of the array of projects moving forward, there are always potentials on the backburner. The things that could get worked on. To help prioritize which ones do get worked on, when there’s a lack of collaborators, that can be a signal that says your time is better spent elsewhere. A project where others are involved and on it gets the love. A project that’s alone in the wilderness, starts and then stalls, or goes through periods of radio silence does not. Don’t sweat it and keep the focus on the things that stand the best chance of becoming reality. 

This isn’t a 100% black and white approach to execution. Few things are. But it can be a helpful guide.