Architects, engineers, designers of fashion or websites immerse themselves willingly into design. While engaging their creative abilities, they are forced to address constraints and relationships within the project they are working on before anything further is done.
While they go about their disciplined day, we scurry to finish our to do list. Both things small and large. Giving everything on our list the same urgency. The next email arrives and we must react. Our work day end approaches with too many things we need to do.
What makes us feel good is doing. Staying busy. Without necessarily thinking about whether or not what we are doing is effective. Like a pinball, we collide with life and then move on towards our next collision.
Some will argue that their days are different. They have goals and objectives to focus their efforts. Their calendars are rigorously filled with intention. Wandering less gives them more time to achieve what they set out to do.
Agreed. But I see too many who do this yet continue to rush through their day. This is where I have an issue with goals and objectives. Their scope is much more narrow than the arena of design. Constraints and relationships betwen things are important in design thinking and should be considered when you set your goals and objectives.
Goals and objectives, many times, don’t explicitly worry about how they fit in to the larger context of one’s life or organization. Pushing to do the subtasks necessary to complete an objective or goal, that is isolated onto itself, may blindly lead us to new problems never considered.
Using a design approach, where you look holistically at the end result, gives you an opportunity to better prepare for the journey to get there. Does this design approach slow you down? Yes, it certainly does. But I would argue strongly, it helps you get to a better result quicker. As well as one that is more impactful and enduring in the long run.
Designing first before doing will work better for you. As long as you consider the impact of your end result on those around it before hand. And push yourself to imagine the constraints that you will need to work with before you encounter them.
“Measure twice, cut once” are wise words for us to follow. When we approach significant things that can impact our lives & organizations. Using this concept of design always as the initial step, when planning for everything we choose to do.