Often, it's easier to give privacy than it is to find it. This is often true in the great outdoors. If you can't easily find privacy then it's good to have an attitude among your group to give privacy instead. When stopping a raft for lunch at the side of a river there may be no cover at all. A handy phrase for how to give some privacy when you needed to go pee was 'skirts up, pants down' — girls go upstream, boys go downstream. Or try finding some privacy when you're roped in a group of six walking up a glacier all day where you can't unrope — in that case, it's boys to one side of the rope, girls to the other. You can give privacy almost anywhere even when it's near impossible to find it. I was taught this by the excellent river guides at ROW.…Often, it's easier to give privacy than it is to find it. This is often true in the great outdoors. If you can't easily find privacy then it's good to have an attitude among your group to give privacy instead. When stopping a raft for lunch at the side of a river there may be no cover at all. A handy phrase for how to give some privacy when you needed to go pee was 'skirts up, pants down' — girls go upstream, boys go downstream. Or try finding some privacy when you're roped in a group of six walking up a glacier all day where you can't unrope — in that case, it's boys to one side of the rope, girls to the other. You can give privacy almost anywhere even when it's near impossible to find it. I was taught this by the excellent river guides at ROW.WWW…
Being clear is not just being helpful. It's actually being kind. Being unclear about expectations, fuzzy on what you really need, or skirting around an issue, is actually unkind — it sets people up to fail and creates problems in the future. If you don't give clear feedback, you're holding that person back from improving. If you say two weeks, but you're really expecting one week, you'll resent it when it's not done in time. If you say it's really fine when it's not, you'll continue to be upset about how things are going. Clear is kind is a simple reminder, though by no means always easy, of how being clear in your communication is the generous, brave, helpful, and kind thing to do. I learned clear is kind, and unclear is unkind from Brené Brown in Dare to Lead. She said she first heard it in a 12-step meeting. I borrowed the dancing emphasis from the always excellent Eva-Lotta Lamm. Static sketch of clear is kind…Being clear is not just being helpful. It's actually being kind. Being unclear about expectations, fuzzy on what you really need, or skirting around an issue, is actually unkind — it sets people up to fail and creates problems in the future. If you don't give clear feedback, you're holding that person back from improving. If you say two weeks, but you're really expecting one week, you'll resent it when it's not done in time. If you say it's really fine when it's not, you'll continue to be upset about how things are going. Clear is kind is a simple reminder, though by no means always easy, of how being clear in your communication is the generous, brave, helpful, and kind thing to do. I learned clear is kind, and unclear is unkind from Brené Brown in Dare to Lead. She said she first heard it in a 12-step meeting. I borrowed the dancing emphasis from the always excellent Eva-Lotta Lamm. Static sketch of clear is kindWWW…
Most things increase in demand as they get cheaper — as the price of electric cars comes down we can expect more people to buy more of them. Veblen goods are the opposite. They thrive on exclusivity. Veblen goods are more desirable exactly because they are more expensive. If everyone could buy a Rolex, the vintage whisky, or that supercar, then they wouldn't seem so super anymore. Many luxury items are veblen goods. The I Am Rich iPhone app briefly sold for $999.99 and displayed only a glowing red gem and a mantra about being rich. Genius/madness. Veblen goods are named after Thorstein Veblen, coiner of the concept of conspicuous consumption.…Most things increase in demand as they get cheaper — as the price of electric cars comes down we can expect more people to buy more of them. Veblen goods are the opposite. They thrive on exclusivity. Veblen goods are more desirable exactly because they are more expensive. If everyone could buy a Rolex, the vintage whisky, or that supercar, then they wouldn't seem so super anymore. Many luxury items are veblen goods. The I Am Rich iPhone app briefly sold for $999.99 and displayed only a glowing red gem and a mantra about being rich. Genius/madness. Veblen goods are named after Thorstein Veblen, coiner of the concept of conspicuous consumption.WWW…
Maslow's hierarchy of needs, or Maslow's pyramid of needs, was created as the basis for a theory of human motivation by the psychologist Abraham Maslow shared in a 1943 paper. He was interested in what gives our lives meaning and what makes people happy — particularly in the context of a world increasingly driven by consumerism. He suggested there were our basic needs and our higher level needs — psychological, spiritual, and growth. In the basic needs you have physiological needs such as not being hungry, thirsty, or cold. Then we have our safety needs such as being free from the threat of violence, or being healthy. Then we have the higher-level needs of love and belonging including friendship, connection, family. Then esteem needs such as self-respect and self-esteem. And finally our need for self-actualization — reaching our potential, achieving mastery, or being the best we can be. Maslow continued to refine his original framework. For all its flaws — it always provokes discussion and counter-arguments in my experience — it's remained a clarifying and remarkably enduring model. If you're designing for needs I prefer Patnaik's hierarchy of needs.…Maslow's hierarchy of needs, or Maslow's pyramid of needs, was created as the basis for a theory of human motivation by the psychologist Abraham Maslow shared in a 1943 paper. He was interested in what gives our lives meaning and what makes people happy — particularly in the context of a world increasingly driven by consumerism. He suggested there were our basic needs and our higher level needs — psychological, spiritual, and growth. In the basic needs you have physiological needs such as not being hungry, thirsty, or cold. Then we have our safety needs such as being free from the threat of violence, or being healthy. Then we have the higher-level needs of love and belonging including friendship, connection, family. Then esteem needs such as self-respect and self-esteem. And finally our need for self-actualization — reaching our potential, achieving mastery, or being the best we can be. Maslow continued to refine his original framework. For all its flaws — it always provokes discussion and counter-arguments in my experience — it's remained a clarifying and remarkably enduring model. If you're designing for needs I prefer Patnaik's hierarchy of needs.WWW…
What are Fungible Goods? Fungible goods are mutually interchangeable in that, in principle, you could swap in any unit for any other unit of the same type or kind, and it would be equivalent. Money is a classic fungible good. A $10 bill is equivalent to any other $10 bill, so if you were to borrow $10 from someone, they wouldn't care or expect to get the same $10 bill back. What are Non-Fungible Goods? Non-fungible goods are unique and not mutually interchangeable. Each house, even cookie-cutter houses, is in a unique location with different neighbours, quirks, and histories. A print of the Mona Lisa on your wall is not the same as having the original from the Louvre. Swapping people between work teams, even people with similar experience, will still result in different outcomes. Distinguishing Fungible from Non-Fungible Goods A nice thought experiment to distinguish fungible and non-fungible goods is to ask if, if you were to borrow one, it would make a difference if you returned a different one. For example, if you were to borrow my car, you could return it to me with a different tank of fuel (a fungible good), and it wouldn't make any difference to me. But if you were to return a different used car (a non-fungible good), that would be rather odd. What About NFTs? If you've heard of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and would like to understand their flaws and promise better, I recommend the NFT Freakonomics episode of the 3-part series What can Blockchain do for you? Related Ideas to Fungible and Non-fungible Goods Also see: Rival and non-rival goods Veblen goods The Diderot Effect…What are Fungible Goods? Fungible goods are mutually interchangeable in that, in principle, you could swap in any unit for any other unit of the same type or kind, and it would be equivalent. Money is a classic fungible good. A $10 bill is equivalent to any other $10 bill, so if you were to borrow $10 from someone, they wouldn't care or expect to get the same $10 bill back. What are Non-Fungible Goods? Non-fungible goods are unique and not mutually interchangeable. Each house, even cookie-cutter houses, is in a unique location with different neighbours, quirks, and histories. A print of the Mona Lisa on your wall is not the same as having the original from the Louvre. Swapping people between work teams, even people with similar experience, will still result in different outcomes. Distinguishing Fungible from Non-Fungible Goods A nice thought experiment to distinguish fungible and non-fungible goods is to ask if, if you were to borrow one, it would make a difference if you returned a different one. For example, if you were to borrow my car, you could return it to me with a different tank of fuel (a fungible good), and it wouldn't make any difference to me. But if you were to return a different used car (a non-fungible good), that would be rather odd. What About NFTs? If you've heard of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and would like to understand their flaws and promise better, I recommend the NFT Freakonomics episode of the 3-part series What can Blockchain do for you? Related Ideas to Fungible and Non-fungible Goods Also see: Rival and non-rival goods Veblen goods The Diderot EffectWWW…
The magic of a first draft is that the first draft is always perfect. It doesn't matter if it's rubbish, if it's messy, if it doesn't flow, if it lacks personality, or if it won't work. The job of a first draft is to be a draft and get the process started. So however it turns out, the first draft has done its job perfectly. In the illustrated art collection by Dr Seuss you can see some of the first drafts and iterations of text and images that go to refine the seemingly effortless rhythm, rhyme and combination of text and images from his wacky illustrations. Donald Schön, in his classic The Reflective Practitioner, goes further by sharing his analysis of design as a reflective conversation – observing each mark sketched on paper informs the next you make. You don't know how it will turn out until you put pen to paper. Seeing what comes out allows you to adapt and modify as you go in a back-and-forth of discovery and evaluation. Don't worry about your first draft — it'll be perfect. Start small. Start now. I read this for the first time in an article by Casey Fowler that's no longer live. Most likely, it originates from the novelist Jane Smiley: "Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It's perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist."…The magic of a first draft is that the first draft is always perfect. It doesn't matter if it's rubbish, if it's messy, if it doesn't flow, if it lacks personality, or if it won't work. The job of a first draft is to be a draft and get the process started. So however it turns out, the first draft has done its job perfectly. In the illustrated art collection by Dr Seuss you can see some of the first drafts and iterations of text and images that go to refine the seemingly effortless rhythm, rhyme and combination of text and images from his wacky illustrations. Donald Schön, in his classic The Reflective Practitioner, goes further by sharing his analysis of design as a reflective conversation – observing each mark sketched on paper informs the next you make. You don't know how it will turn out until you put pen to paper. Seeing what comes out allows you to adapt and modify as you go in a back-and-forth of discovery and evaluation. Don't worry about your first draft — it'll be perfect. Start small. Start now. I read this for the first time in an article by Casey Fowler that's no longer live. Most likely, it originates from the novelist Jane Smiley: "Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It's perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist."WWW…
