Being Your Own Creative Director: "Designerly Ways of Knowing"

When I set out on my “design path” I was young – and really, design for me was more a way to make some money drawing. It was also a way to make money being “creative.”

Over the years, I have had numerous opportunities to reflect on growing up, and how I have changed. Then today, I read this post and started thinking about the bigger picture (no surprise for a “systems thinker” ay?)

Design has become a really big deal for me, and less about what anyone would normally think of as ‘being creative.’ A key premise for my blog, for instance, is design from a life approach perspective. I applied some “life design” over the last few years… shifting career focus from college education to corporate training. I did this through a process of analyzing economic niche’s and needs, as well as what would capitalize on what I enjoyed and did well. I transferred a great deal of strength into new areas. This is at the core of design-focused thinking.

Diving in deeper, my life turned out to be something much different than I would ever have imagined. I drew pictures, and also became a designer that was relatively happy, doing what I thought I was supposed to do. I led a life of design education, teaching in many colleges for almost 15 years – I never saw that coming!

It fostered a love for learning – my own learning – as well as helping others learn and achieve their own goals (through teaching, coaching and instructional design). I still love to make music and art, but I also design for learning. From a higher level, it follows similar processes across
the board.

It seems what HAS stuck with me is that higher-level creative, design-oriented thinking. Where education has run short over the years, has been how many universities completely separate their curriculum and programs. We did not see too much inter-disciplinary learning a few decades ago, but really – design thinking runs across everything: the ability to analyze a problem, and find unusual connections among related topics that will create a tangible and useful solution (form) that sticks – while taking the needs, parameters and problem into consideration (function).

And my definition of being ‘creative’ is just that – finding unique connections between seemingly unrelated things. Design comes into play when you ‘act’ upon those creative thoughts and bring a solution into existence based upon creative reflection.

It’s refreshing to read David’s post, and about how being creative – and using design skills – is turning out to be what can give all of us a better advantage in ‘challenging times’ as they say.

Perhaps we can ALL be a Don Draper, no? Or at least, maybe we can do it without all the Bourbon and mistresses.

J

In essence, we should all take the hand-off from Don, and be our own creative directors, because being creative is not necessarily about the form things take (i.e. drawing a picture), it’s about finding ‘sustaining solutions that stick’ – making all our lives better.

Whether it’s math, science, engineering, visual arts, music, psychology, sociology…

We can all benefit from design, and design thinking.

Things are really starting to happen, hitting us in torrents in an increasingly connected world, and fortunately, we’re starting to realize the value in design. Reports are finding that “design schools are not only a major source of new talent for the economy's rapidly growing creative sector, but are critical catalysts for entrepreneurship.”

David writes: “Design, broadly defined, is an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving that seeks to develop more effective products, environments, and organizations. At its heart, design is about understanding people and how they interact in the larger world.”

This quote ends on a key point: design from a systems perspective, meaning we design our environment – and everything in it, in a much bigger system. The system just keeps expanding, and more sustaining and successful solutions exist when they take the bigger picture into consideration.

NONE of these issues focus explicitly on art, graphic design, architecture, interior design or any of the “creative professions.” They exist across everything, and signify a way of thinking, not a specific way of doing.

Nigel Cross would be proud, as he has a great body of work encompassing what he calls “Designerly Ways of Knowing.” His work over the last 40 years has developed from the basic premise that designers (whether architects, engineers, product designers, etc.) have and use particular ‘designerly’ ways of knowing and thinking. This continues to expand beyond the professions listed above…

And seeing and discovering that human innovation may hinge on a design-thinking approach that crosses all boundaries to true inter-disciplinary kinship…

THAT’s exciting!

Thanks for reading!

m

A few side notes:

All this design-talk seems to only beg me to mention my first book is in the midst of final contractual agreements with Wiley Publishers. Myself and two authors are looking at having a book on visual storytelling, presentation design and managing effective change out by fall… YAY!

Also, I am very thankful for the decision I made in 2005: I chose to enter a master’s program at Antioch University Seattle. I received an M.A. in a program called “Whole Systems Design.” It challenged my thinking, and moved me towards looking at the more complex relationships between things – something I suspect I was already doing. I was in a program alongside all kinds of people. A few were artists, but that was more the exception – and it really didn’t matter, and it was more about cultivating a propensity to apply a way of thinking to whatever you area of focus was: in systems language that would be your “system in focus.”

Separation of fields of study (and anything else for that matter) could be the death of society, and it seems to be what’s presently poking us pretty uncomfortably. So you could say uniting disciplines is in my blood at this point and not a hard sell at all, considering my background and experiences.

Learning to Walk Again

A song has really been staying in my head a lot lately – go figure! Anyway, it’s a track called “Learning to Walk Again” by Foo Fighters.

Seems like such a simple concept, but isn’t “reinvention” what design, creativity and life are ultimately all about?

First we learn, and then we start ‘moving’ and applying our learning. Some of that involves successes – we run, and some of that involves failures – we fall. We’re hopefully always in some kind of motion. Walking is a nice analogy for life, and certainly not a new one.

The grand, larger sweeps of our actions involve so many smaller swells, rising actions, and dives in under our heads – apparently now I have turned my metaphor into a swim! Regardless, being able to get a sense of the bigger picture always keeps you headed towards the prize – the goal that may change over time. Time is what helps mold us.

Staying present, but being willing to try things, succeed, fail, learn, grow… and grow older in the process.

I recently started drumming again… after some time away. It’s not like I ever actually forgot how to play, but the rediscovery came for me, as it was the same – but different. Now with electronic drums, and the access to hundreds of new sounds, it definitely feels like rediscovery. In my sentimental mind, I see myself playing in the garage when I was a teenager again – it’s that feeling that I’m talking about. It’s the equivalent of feeling like a kid again. All the training and experience in the world can be good, but to reconnect with the cursiosity and excitement is refreshing. How easy it is to forget as we get older.

I feel like I have the new opportunity to try things. It’s a beautiful thing when we can all take a step back to do something like that.

Creativity happens while we’re “failing often to succeed sooner,” and with little attachment to each little outcome, perhaps we can get towards our grander outcomes…

Even before Nirvana disbanded, Dave Grohl was busy considering new musical ventures. As if Nirvana wasn't enough: here's a great drummer... moving towards becoming a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Now there's a move I can relate to! I love it... it's inspirational, because he kept trying things.

Take a few words from Dave Grohl and the Foos:

“Learning to walk again… I believe I've waited long enough

Where do I begin?

Learning to talk again… Can't you see I've waited long enough

Where do I begin?”

Thanks Dave!

m

Learning: The Wherewithal to Change

I was just re-reading a little Csikszentmihalyi (say that ten times fast) and some of his writings on creativity.

“Television is a fantastic tool for increasing the range of what we can experience, but it can make us addicted to redundant information that appeals to the lowest common denominator of human interests.”

And it doesn’t end there: you could substitute so many other ‘things’ in place of the word television. What about ‘social networking,’ or something even more specific, like ‘Facebook?’

It doesn’t matter really, because that’s really not the point. The point is that all new innovations can have a dark side. That’s not to dismiss them as completely ‘bad’ or negative, but the ‘lowest common denominator’ is closer then you might realize. Heck, I love to stop thinking, and turn on the TV, or Netflix, or… well, you get the picture. We ALL need a dark side. hehehe…

Sometimes it seems like the very challenges we set out to solve 5-10 years ago only introduce new ones today. Kinda like overpopulation—perhaps at least partially brought about by medical advances and longer life spans.

Hence the reason that we need two things: awareness and creativity.

Awareness to see what’s happening around us…

And creativity to have the wherewithal to (at least try) to change it.

As someone that has spent a great deal of my life learning, and developing learning for others, I am realizing more and more everyday, how learning is a constant, looping, systemic process. Looping, because it involves action-reflection and passion-objective types of responses, systemic because it’s dynamically responding to every piece or variable of the puzzle…

It’s more complex than a straight line.

Cycles repeat, and loops boggle our brains, but refusal to allow our brains to go numb is perhaps the key to learning. Being pliable and flexible to allow for change as we dynamically respond to the fluctuations of life—now that’s exciting.

I love TV, the movies, Facebook, the web, my iPhone, my Windows Phone, and so on… But I sometimes catch myself growing a bit numb from the repetition of certain kinds of information—it’s just not healthy.

Whether it’s my brain, or exercise and my body, or numerous other examples I could mention, this brings me back to previous discussions on the need to ‘mix it up.’

Constantly being able to shift between action and reflection is a healthy and great example of ‘mixing it up.’ Maybe I’ll talk about it next time, but I’ll conclude this thought by saying life will always be about opposites, extremes, fluctuations, and the ability to keep adjusting to new situations.

Try not to let any single thing get you to used to the ‘lowest common denominator.’

What are your most luring situations or patterns in your typical day?

The Good from the Bad: Reframing Frustration

This may very well be the final post of the year for me… wow, I started this a year ago… right at the end of 2010! I seem to have found a ‘groove’ of sorts, posting in a not-nearly-weekly fashion, but still productive for me. Hopefully it has been helpful in some way for all of you… please feel free to leave comments, as it seems to often go quite quiet from the audience, and I often don’t know, albeit still good for me, how much I am just “talking to myself.”

Anyway…

A short reflection in this post.

Yesterday, in the midst of a mad rush to get out the door to the office, I had a creative idea (music) that I just had to get out and documented – I often forget melodies, rhythms or lyrics unless I make this effort.

A quick setup with the tools, and I was off and running – or maybe NOT.

NOTHING was working… a plugged-in guitar was full of unintended static and low signal, and so was the vocal mic. I switched connections, cables and even mics… same thing, NO CHANGE.

You could say it was very frustrating.

I soldiered on. What used to be known on a PC as the three-finger salute (control-alt-delete) was employed… basically, I rebooted.

HAHA… problem solved, if nothing else works, reboot often solves even the most serious dilemmas! Wouldn’t it be great if everything in life was that “easy?”

Anyway, I finished up a rushed quick-recording for future reference, hurriedly threw myself in the shower, and then I was off to work. That said, it seemed I was still carrying the frustration in my hurried movement to Redmond. What’s up with THAT? I was grumbling at drivers with deeper road rage than I would ever want to admit, and then something happened.

Unfortunately, it took almost the entire 30 min drive but…

I started laughing. It’s a great thing to be frustrated about: the fact that I needed to express something. I had a cool idea that needed to get out. It’s not like I lost $500 at a crap table or something. I was actually happy to be frustrated.

I was thankful.

It really is great to be so passionate about something that when it cannot go the way you might like, it becomes painful.

The fact that I even HAD a good idea is a good thing… imagine that! I guess I am thankful for the good pain, and perhaps not so focused on that actual pain, but why it was there to begin with. Reframing comes with focusing on what’s important. All the toil and trouble we go through to make something happen is about focusing on what is important, and learning from how we might improve the process. Don’t obsess about the pain ay? Have any mind-blowing reframing happen lately?

So next time, I’ll go right to rebooting!

And with that, Happy New Year!!!

Proof of Concept: Deconstruction Therapy

Happy Holidays!
One of the phrases often used in consulting is called “proof of concept.”

Generally, “proof of concept” (or “POC”) is a tool you use to create stakeholder buy-in – convincing a person, a group of people or an audience (but it often comes down to just a few people) that your idea is worth pursuing as a viable option, strategy or method – and it’s generally done in a way that is refined enough to understand, but it is not completely refined or executed until after it is approved. In essence: you are proving that you can ‘do it,’ without ‘doing it… yet.’

When you stop to think about POC, isn't that a lot like life?

Everything we do involves some level of "convincing." Perhaps it's an internal process – like convincing yourself that doing something is worthwhile, or maybe it's proving to yourself that you have the confidence to succeed – or an external process, like illustrating to your boss, or the world, that something is valid and worthy of consideration or adoption.

Of course, with a 'POC,' there's always some kind of change intended - even if it’s a small one. It's often a cause and effect pattern, but what happens when there are unintended consequences?

I might be a creative director like Don Draper in Mad Men, pitching lip stick or cigarettes concepts to clients, or maybe I’m working on something more internal… like as I wrap up 2011, I realize how out of touch I have become with creating –  something was missing, at least from the standpoint of two things I love: music, and art/illustration. Creating, and being creative can be realized in so many ways, that’s for sure, but in my case, I have been feeling like I have started to ‘lose’ something dear to me… and “convincing” myself that it was important to just start doing something has taken some work! In the music area, I am strategizing for 2012: what do I need to do to be inspired? Well, I’ll leave that one to another post, but let’s just say I will be incorporating some new tools in 2012. On the art side, I started doing some digital painting today, and realized how much I missed it.

Sometimes convincing yourself involves simply DOING, and seeing what happens.  

So why is any of this important? Perhaps it's because of how important it can ultimately be to us… when it comes to our happiness!

We can convince ourselves that an action is worthwhile, but it's just as important not to get too attached to the result. Being committed to moving forward is a great intended result, and one that is more worthy than being inflexible and committed a single result... Because what happens when a specific POC fails to work, or convince someone? And then personal feelings get all mixed up in the equation… we magnify the problem, and defeat ourselves!

To quote the Dalai Llama: "it seems that whenever there are intense emotions involved, there tends to be a disparity between how things appear and how they really are."

So basically:

Don't be a part of the problem, and don’t get in the way of your own progress.

Don't make it worse by creating something that isn't there, don't be too rough on yourself, and yes – keep going!

In my world, I learn from it, and am committed to moving under, over, around or through... But I continue regardless... and I keep trying. Trying new things... Because you know what they say about repeating the same action, but expecting a different result!

;)

You've heard the phrase "new and improved," right? I take that one to heart every time I need to learn and keep going! After going through some of this process, I have found that doing a little 'deconstructing' of what I'm all about it a good thing. Take it apart, let it fall to the ground, and see what pieces you feel like picking up again, right?

I need a reason or a purpose for doing something. For instance, the drawing I am working on is going to be a holiday card… it serves a dual purpose: it’s an enjoyable process, and it’s also a form of expression to share with others. Good stuff! Anyway, I’ll attach it to this blog. I think it’s just about done.

What have some of your more challenging 'POCs' looked like, and what they led to? Was it a valuable change? Profound insight? What was its ultimate impact?

Are you, who you say you are?

Well prove it!