I've been busy, and also playing too much Star Trek Online, and I'm behind on writing my Groundhog Day Resolutions update for June 6. I'll have to get to them after I'm done with the solid day of meetings I have, but for now here's a few interesting tidbits:
Sid Ceaser and I recorded a long-overdue podcast last Friday. It's up now on the podcast website. You can also subscribe on iTunes, if that's the way you like to roll.
I've come to acknowledge that I love complexity more than I like simple solutions. Or more accurately: to get to a simple solution, I like working intensively in a complex design process that results in simplicity, elegance, and so forth. You can't get one without the other, at least as far as my process is concerned. So I need to redesign my design website to emphasize that, which means emphasizing that this takes time and money. The way to really meet the desire for simplicity is to make simple products, not promise simple solutions. That way, the simplicity is fixed into a product that is self-evident in its simplicity. To promise simplicity in the design process up front is hobbles someone like me, who thrives on sorting complexity and nuance.
After talking to my friend Gary this morning about how hard it is to find really good people to work with because I hate not picking everyone. He pointed out that this was a limiting belief, and that if I actually asked for "franchise players", which I take to mean people who are highly-skilled, that already wanted to work with me, that would would be a huge game changer. There's a few things I'm very good at (absorbing complexity and distilling actionable principles from it, designing system architectures), and I'm very discerning in other areas like programming, project management, graphic design, and illustration. The major thing I'm bad at: working without an inspiring partner. If you're someone who is good at what they do, and can imagine working on something with someone like me for any reason, shoot me an example of your work and I'll shoot you an example of mine.
Here's a recent interview, conducted via email, on the productivity blog Half-a-Dozen Monkeys.
I was on Amazon buying bulk cat litter for my ScoopAway litter tray, and stumbled across a merchant selling a "set of 100 different world banknotes" for $29.95. I have been thinking about collecting engraving and decorative papers as inspiration for making "productivity bucks" for an as-yet-to-be-determined use ("it would be cool!")...
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SUMMARY: I think I just discovered what design discipline I'm in! Someone pinch me! However, do I have to choose between that and being a creator?
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It's amazing what a difference a day makes. After yesterday's crawl through long-standing pools of my own procrastination juices and undoing some old mind tricks, I'm finding that "just making stuff" is a lot easier.
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SUMMARY: I've been feeling like I've had some setbacks recently, and this has made me question my working methods yet again. This week's attitude adjustment comes from recognizing my limits and identifying the situations that tax them. Also, I identify a source of anxiety that comes from a clash of values between my engineering past and my present visual design focus: unknowns are avoided in technology, but are embraced in the arts.
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SUMMARY: After spending two days rationalizing myself into action, I get broadsided by a bunch of work-related phone calls and am derailed! However, by the end of the day I'm surprised once more at how just a tiny action can turn into something new and interesting.
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SUMMARY: After writing yesterday's post, I push into "the mountain" of resistance. It's taking longer than I thought, but I am trying to strike a balance between the complexities of my own character and find a line of reasoning that leads to action.
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SUMMARY: I'm getting a jump on next week's task of adapting prior design work into some digital download form, but I've been here for what seems like MONTHS. What's wrong? I debug my resistances to this specific task by naming demons, which are cancerous forms of otherwise-good intentions.
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SUMMARY: After Tuesday's surprisingly-popular post on Type 2 Procrastination, I wanted to further define the difficulty of switching from "search" to "build" mode. The result is a hierarchy of inspirational sources and the role they play in the fulfillment of attaining productivity, at least as far as my emotionally-driven, imaginative, and discerning butt is concerned.
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SUMMARY: Using "bubble charts" for quick visualization of immediate goals.
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