Reminders for myself
A talented person can quickly become mediocre when you force them to be someone they aren’t.
Every hello is a chance to have a wonderful life.
If someone asks you “what do you do?” resist the temptation to respond with your job title. Instead, respond with an “I believe” statement. Example:
“So, Jim, What do you do?”
“ I believe story, art, and design can bend the arc of humanity’s progress, and I try to bring that into everything I do: from movies to startups to paintings to books and to ballets.”
A statement of belief will start more interesting conversations than your job title. If the person doesn’t immediately ask a question in return, you can ask them what they believe. Compare this to the usual path: if you open with your job title or rank, this sets up a confrontational hierarchy. And if you introduce yourself with something vague, like “finance” or “tech” or “science” or “art” this sends a signal that you don’t really want to talk about it. Open with an idea, and the conversation is already interesting before it begins. We crave interestingness over almost all else.
Design matters because it helps us solve problems, think creatively, understand the world around us, develop empathy, and be critical. Just as you would hire an architect when building a house, design plays an important role in creating functional, beautiful, and meaningful solutions in all aspects of life.
Ben Shih
Taking a chance on a person is making a bet not on what they are now, but the potential of what they can become.
David Hoang
Availability doesn’t mean being ready
The first design management role you have might be because you’re handed the opportunity: there is a need, the manager left/got fired, or something else. Availability does not wait for you to be ready. It asks you to give a direct answer if you will say yes to the call of duty². When I took on the responsibility
... See more“One of the superpowers a designer has is to envision a world that doesn’t yet exist and lay out the steps to get there and make it a reality.
There’s a piece of that that means some designers never really settle for accepting reality as it is, and they do what they can to influence and shape reality into one that’s closer to what they like.”
Dan Mal
... See moreWhile concepting, focus on… concepts
There’s a time and place for different discussions. Oftentimes, in the absence of strategic arguments, peers might raise tactical commentary when reviewing conceptual work (the classic “have you thought about the empty state” comment). But while it's tempting to address every potential scenario immediately, tackl
... See moreConcepting is not just executing requirements
A checklist of requirements is not a design; it's a recipe for mediocrity. Design is about critical thinking. It’s about the things you decide NOT to include. Great designers know how to strategically question requirements, say no, and prioritize what really matters. The first step is to have a clear und
... See moreA concept is strategy, visualized
Great designers are able to distill the essence of a strategy and transmute it (through a mockup, a storyboard, a sentence, a quote, a metaphor, or a story) into a form that stakeholders can grasp and embrace.
https://www.doc.cc/articles/concept?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email