April 3, 2022
I’m sitting at the dining room table watching a guy and his friend smoke cigarettes on a balcony. I always see one of the guys out there smoking. His body language really reminds me of how I felt when I smoked. He seems to really be trying to move his body in slow and deliberate movements, as if the cigarette is enjoyable and precious. I’m sure he’s trying to ignore how much he hates the cigarette. He looks like he’s trying so hard to convince himself that he feels good. I can feel his excitement when he comes out on the balcony to light up, and I can feel his disgust and exhaustion when he opens the door to go back inside, not having experienced the feeling he’s been missing.
The submarine was gliding just beneath the surface of the ocean. On board were sailors and a few actors who where doing research for roles in an upcoming movie.
“So how many times a day do you guys get to eat?” Asked Brad Pitt.
“Um I don’t actually know. It’s my first day.” Respond a young sailor.
Brad Pitt laughed and ruffled the sailor's hair in a fatherly manner.
“How often does this vessel hit a shark?” Asked Jennifer Lawrence.
“Oh I’d say we hit about 4 a day,” answered the captain as he rubbed his chin. “The sea is full of them.”
“And does it damage the sub?” Asked Jennifer.
“Not usually, although the sharks hardly ever survive. We usually try and salvage their bodies. The meat will keep the sailors full for months and the fat can be used to power the engines.”
“Extraordinary!” Gasped Jennifer.
Denzel Washington was near the stern of the great vessel. He was talking to the cooks. “How many potatoes do you guys leave land with?”
“About 500,” said one of the cooks as he stirred the contents of a bubbling pot.
“Where do the potatoes come from?” Asked Denzel, who was taking notes on his iPad.
“I think we get them from South America,” replied the cook.
“You think?” Snapped Denzel, raising his eyebrows and letting his jaw hang slack. “What d’you mean ‘ya think’?”
“I’m not reading the labels on every box of potatoes! What’s with all the questions?!”
“I want this chef OFF of the vessel!” Roared Denzel, pointing towards the cook.
A big lamp over the doorway suddenly began flashing red as a steady voice came over the intercom.
“CODE RED, CODE RED - REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS.”
The cooks placed lids over their pots and tore off their aprons. They all hurried past towards the door.
I’m very happy to report that I went to the open-mic yesterday. I don’t know why my attitude changed. I finished writing my journal entry yesterday and then I wrote a short story that I felt proud of. Suddenly it seemed much easier to convince myself to go. I suddenly became excited. I think there were a few factors that helped me.
One thing that helped was writing how I felt. The second thing was writing about the kind of person I want to be. It made me feel good to read back the things that I want to do. It seemed straight forward and easer to understand myself when I could read it all back.
The third thing that helped was writing the short story. It gave me a feeling of accomplishment. It felt like it gave me momentum for the day.
I’ve often found that each accomplishment makes it easier to start the next thing I’ve been putting off. It starts to feel like this momentum is building.
I used to always wonder how freight trains could carry so many containers at such a high speed. I realize now that once the train is up and running, the cargo weighs far less than it does when it’s not moving. That’s why it takes a little while for those freight trains to get going. It’s so heavy at first. It gets easier and easier. I think that’s right. I don’t actually know.
The open-mic was pretty fun. I took dad’s acoustic guitar. I much prefer singing songs with an acoustic rather than electric. The only problem is I don’t want to have to be taking his guitar out. He’ll kill me, and it doesn’t have a cable input anyways. So I found one on Kijiji for $150. I’m gonna go get it tomorrow.
The people at the open mic seemed to be in their 50’s and 60’s. It was a really nice and casual environment. Everyone was super friendly. That was my first time playing alone on stage. It was fun.
Right now I’m reading ‘Change By Design’. It feels like the kinda book I gotta read twice, because it’s so dense with information and I feel like a lot of it is going over my head. I guess a good way to retain what I’m reading is to talk or write about it.
Today he was talking about the importance of physically going out into the world in order to study and learn, as opposed to relying on data from reports gathered by using studies and surveys. He points out that there are so many little things that you can learn from observing with your own senses.
It’s also super important to actually speak with people. He talks about how it’s helpful to hear what people are saying in the real world, as well as observing them. He also points out that there will be things that you won’t learn from their words, but from just observing their actions, since a big chunk of behaviour is done unconsciously.
He also mentioned how it’s not always super helpful to observe your exact target demographic, since you’re likely to hear what you already know. Instead, it helps to talk to people at the edges. The people who don’t exactly fit your target. These are the people who are likely to have bits of wisdom that will be unfamiliar and useful.
Before that he was talking about teams, and how it’s in teams where many breakthroughs happen. It’s when you collect a diverse mix of talented people and have them bounce ideas off of each other that breakthroughs occur.
He also stressed the importance of physical and social environments. You want a social system where these teams are allowed to gather and try new things. You want them to be able to go back to their departments and be allowed to implement what they’ve learned, instead of enforcing a very rigid path that operates in a straight and incremental fashion. The physical space is very important. He talked a lot about how people being in the same room is far more beneficial than people communicating over phone, email or video calls. He talks about how people need to be able to jump up to add to the whiteboard and to be able to interrupt and build off of what each person is saying, in real time. These other modes of communication tend to have a delay that stifles innovation and out of the box ideas.
He talked about how designers and organizations need to always remember that they are designing for humans. A human is always the final piece and its the human that will determine the success or failure.
He talked about the first step in many processes; the brief, and how the way it’s structured from the outset will have a huge impact on the final result. Too many specifics and finalized notes will lead to products that are only incremental improvements. He gives the example of how certain products, like printers, all look the same. The designers who receive these briefs have very little room to do anything new. Their job is basically to design a box to incase the electronics.
On the other hand, being too vague can have equally destructive consequences. It can leave the designers slightly uncertain. The products they design are probably the ones that leave people asking ‘don’t they know how real people operate?’
You want a brief that is somewhere in the middle. It’s not too vague, in that it clearly states what the issue might be and clearly identifies some of the constraints. It’s not too specific in that it doesn’t tell the designer what path is recommended to reach this goal. It allows and encourages the design department to try new things and explore new avenues and to implement these new ideas.
He also talked about the importance of an environment that emphasizes forgiving those who make mistakes when trying new things, instead of rewarding those who make incremental improvements and stick to what is known and familiar. I think that’s what he said. The gist of it was that people should feel safe to try something and fail. They shouldn’t have to worry that by trying something new they’re potentially putting their job in jeopardy.
He talked about how constraints are super important and super helpful. Identifying the constraints is often the first step. They not only ensure that the project gets finished through the use of deadlines, but they’re also helpful because they help to steer the project in a certain direction. It prevents the rules from being too vague and overwhelming in their endless options. He said that constraints of any kind, whether imposed or self-imposed, should always be welcomed and should always be used.
He was talking about how constraints can be broken down into three categories- Feasibility, Viability, and Desirability.
Feasibility - What is actually possible in the near future. What you actually know how to do or at least what steps to take.
Viability - Can it be implemented into a consistent and reliable model. Can it be recreated efficiently and effectively more than once.
Desirability - Do people actually want the finished product.