The truth to success begins by admitting our failures. I loved your approach, Joe. Keep us updated buddy.

It’s a great article too, because it breathes life into the idea that we are people first and foremost – the determined expert persona is merely a useful by-product of this. I wonder, how many times we fail due to a misguided quest for self-worth through professional achievement? Perhaps we try too hard to convince ourselves (and others) that our professional beliefs and actions are the measure of who we are.

There’s a new mantra I’ve been hearing lately; ‘ignorance is power’. I suspect this means that knowing what you don’t know is far wiser and more powerful than blindly believing you know everything.

Good stuff and thanks.

In my spiritual path, I’ve done a terrible job of following his advice. But his “exchanging self and other” suggestion to me means to always think of the welfare of others and try to see the world from the viewpoint of others as much as one can, instead of peering from the habitual castle of ‘self’ and ‘mine’. This does seem really in line with the discipline of design, since the overcoming of one’s bias and having a wider viewpoint is crucial for good design.

Perhaps verse 110 from chapter 8 could be a usability designer’s creed (Padmakara Translation):

Just as I defend myself,
from all unpleasant happenings however small,
Likewise I shall act for others’ sake,
To guard and protect them with compassion.

@Brendan: You’re quite right, it is easy to get caught up in the wearing the mantle of expert. Or any other mantle that’s as much constructed as real. Once your mantle closes you off to the world…

On mantras, maybe ‘ignorance is power[fully bad]‘ ?

@Davee: I came upon Shantideva while looking for other things, yet the fit seemed natural; I suppose that happens often I think verse 110 would make a perfect creed for usability / design professionals.

Maybe ignorance is/was the wrong word to use here, but the gist is that believing in something (insert: self/project/organisation/culture) 100% means there’s really no space for alternative options. From time to time, take the stance of someone who knows nothing and you may well help others (and yourself) to find the boundaries of what is REALLY known and understood about an issue.

In the world of experts and professionals the person who is prepared to say ‘I don’t understand why’ or, ‘explain this to me in ways even I can understand’ illicits either a) new knowledge for the endeavour or b) understanding of where further examination is needed. Not that I’m recommending putting colleagues and associates on the defensive of course, just that some good open, honest ‘kings new clothes’ type questions can really shed light where insight and knowledge may not freely available.

If some Easter Islanders had said; “Forgive our ignorance, but what will happen when the trees run out?” the resultant answer (or lack of one) might have saved their fate.

As you say, taking the stance of someone without a deep set of preconceived notions or a rigidly defined point of view can be a powerful tool that furthers your understanding. That’s a method of discovery that many in design (and other) disciplines use to good effect.

Shall we try again on the mantra:
[adopting the stance of] ignorance is [a] power[ful way to enhance understanding]

I wouldn’t recommend being or *staying* fully ignorant of what you’re trying to understand – and I’m sure that’s not what you had in mind, either.

BTW: Diamond uses the idea of creeping normalcy to shed some light on how people might allow themselves to run out of trees. Creeping normalcy very briefly means that if each generation cuts down a few more trees, then the cumulative decrease in the number of trees over time can be hard to perceive. His discussion of course is more in depth…

Now talking about ignorance. If ignorance was bliss we would have never opened knowledge centers like universities and libraries churning and showcasing loads and loads of information. We thirst for knowledge and consume it all the time. May be ignorance is bliss sometimes (once in one million) but it is knowledge that prevails and keep us going.

I would rather rewrite it to: Ignorance [informed] is bliss [rarely]
I know that there is nothing called “Informed Ignorance” but just a wishful thinking.

Waiting for more to come in the series.

I’ve noticed how positional authority can predict the optimism of an employee. Directors and above are generally very optimistic and driven to see the company succeed. The lower you are on the food chain, the tendency for pessimism increases. I work in retail so the low man in the food chain interacts the most with our customers.

Is the individual attitude governed by financial benefit or something less tangible like work ethic or ego? Or maybe it’s the realization that my ability to change an culture like a company is less as an individual contributor?

It’s no wonder we see similarities between these societies and todays companies. Many of us invest significant energy at work and our fortunes rise and fall based on the success of our employers.

On the one hand it’s about finding the simple path to success, but in a larger organization it’s about identifying each employee as a leader to lead the adaptation from failure – executives need to listen and act decisively. No doubt the members of your team were optimistic, smart and capable of running a profitable company. I’ve discovered that in a small team it’s harder to take the time to see the bigger picture.

A start-up I worked for came to the brink of folding before realizing that talented people couldn’t create the ‘rain’ to support the good intentions. The masters of navigating failure realize the path from good intentions to reality lacks a road map. Maybe it’s dumb luck, maybe it’s fate – but I wouldn’t trade the failures for more success. Of course I’m not on Easter Island

Brendan:
“Forgive our ignorance, but what will happen when the trees run out?”

If they were like many people nowadays regarding global warming/contamination, the answer would probably have been something like “Oh, that would never happen; it hasn’t been proved that’s ever going to happen. And, if it does, we will *eventually* find a solution”.

I heard that in Tahitian, a [polynesian language][1], there is no “future tense”. Therefore, the concept of the future and predicting what will happen, or worrying about the future consequences, is not present among the population. If this is true, and it applied to Easter Islanders, it could explain why nobody asked what would happen after all the trees had been cut.

[1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahitic_languages

sometimes, we win