Failure. It’s a word that conjures up negative imagery of times when we’ve let others down, when products or services didn’t work, when we were unable to get a conversation started or resolve conflict. And yet without experiencing failure there’s no opportunity to learn and make intelligent choices in the future.

This video is a great example of how even the most influential leaders in a number of industries continually failed; and were told they couldn’t succeed by peers and thought leaders at different stages of their own careers.

Yet they looked at such set backs as an opportunity; learning from past failures; and creating experiences in their respective industries that have influenced actors, artists, leaders, athletes, and musicians for decades!

In Malcolm Gladwell’s most recent publication “Outliers” he notes that in order to be considered a true expert in any arena individuals need an enormous amount of devoted study and practice:

The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – in anything…In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you this number comes up again and again. Of course that doesn’t address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others do. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplised in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.

So why are we so quick to associate ourselves with the tag line of “expert” when so much of what we are creating has never been attempted – on the web or in the new ways we are connecting with people in every corner of the globe.

Our collective inability to communicate is probably the single greatest failure for which we all need to be accountable. We are all overwhelmed with information, priorities, deadlines, schedules to keep; it’s no wonder we’re failing more often at tasks that were once easily accomplished with little to no stress.

Claude Monet used the same painting of the Rouen Cathedral to study the effect light and shadow has on the representation of any object during different times of the day.

Monet would sketch relentlessly before creating the hard lines that allowed him to see the final image. (charcoal sketch of the face below left).

I’ve always had a passion for art; from my earliest days in high school and continuing that interest into university where I took almost all of my electives in art history, painting, and figure drawing. (example of one of my sketches).

Click on images to see greater detail…

I love using art as a metaphor because it allows me to show others how every pencil stroke leads to the final result. It wasn’t done in a few lines or a couple of attempts. It took months of studying, learning how to see each object with my minds’ eye, being able to dissociate preconceived ideas about how an object should be formed – whether it was a figure, building, flower, etc. into its actual state.

The world has changed. Even the most commonly understood terms such as ROI are being challenged in the Information Age. People are struggling to find value in their own careers as companies and governments around the world cling to business practices that no longer work.

Become the leader we all long for by stepping up and sharing experiences and times when we failed to accomplish our own goals!

I hope to be engaging more people in conversations through the i.a. podcast and the ux workshop in the coming months about this concept. If any of the community would like to share such stories, please drop me a note jeff.parks@iaconsultants.ca.

On today’s show I chat with Content Strategist and Partner at FatDUX in Copenhagen, Denmark Eric Reiss about leadership in the age of information.

Eric points out that leadership isn’t about creating a buzz it’s about creating results. In essence a leader is someone you can trust to make a good decision on your behalf.

Younger people can do the job in many cases but they lack the experience to help them avoid pitfalls common to anyone starting out. Our experience in life determines our perspective and that perspective in turn shapes our unique reality.

This is a fundamental reason why we have a difficult time communicating effectively; we value different ideas based on experiences that shape what is important to us as individuals versus that which can be left undiscovered.

Eric discusses the work of Eli Whitney and the way in which he changed how we work during the Industrial revolution through the development of interchangeable parts. This in turn lead to the creation of products that forever changed the workplace from one of artisan to that of an employee in a factory.

In turn this lead to the advent of the corporate culture and to this day businesses discuss how to best motivate employees. We still talk about the “carrot” and “stick”. Prior to the industrial revolution there was just the “stick”. You had to do what you were told. Then with the creation of factories and different managerial styles, the “carrot” or rewards to motivate people came into play.

Eric argues that there needs to be a third element to the “carrot” and the “stick” – not quite sure what that might be but we need to start debating and thinking more about that element.

“If I haven’t experienced it, it can’t be true.” A mantra that many have, and yet holding fast to such a thought process prevents us from gaining new experiences and by extension improve our capacity to lead others.

The video below was a framework I shared with good friend and colleague in Philadelphia Michael Carvin @mcarvin about how to move the conversation away from the usual debates that force projects to compromise and lead your team back to a focus on those for whom you are designing.

Seek First to Understand from Jeff Parks on Vimeo.

User Experience has much more to do than the web! “Back in the day” Eric was the Assistant Director of plays at the Royal Theater. In one particular play the scene took place in Italy in an authentic old world Italian kitchen; yet no one could get into the scene, it just wasn’t working. Eric suggested they fry up some onion and garlic stimulating the olfactory senses of what it would smell like in a real Italian kitchen allowing both the actors, and during the live performance the audience, to feel as if they were literally in the old country. (Plus snack sales went through the roof!)

I suggest that the IAI and IxDA board members should find ways to interact with their members through video and engage with their members in a more human way.

Eric is helping to build EuroIA 2009 this year being held in Copenhagen Denmark at the Scandic Hotel. Speakers are flying in from 14 different countries; an event that is shaping up to be an incredible opportunity to learn from those both within and outside the Information Architecture discipline.

World renowned neurologist and author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, The Island of the Colorblind and An Antrhopologist on Mars amongst others (these are the books I’ve read to date) gives a wonderful talk about his experiences in working with people “seeing” hallucinations who are “visually impaired”.

We see with the eyes but we see with the brain as well; and seeing with the brain is often called imagination. We are familiar with the landscape of imagination…we’ve lived with them all our lives but there are also hallucinations as well; and halluciations are completely different. They don’t seem to be of our creation. They don’t seem to be under our control. They seem to come from the outside and to mimic perception.

Personally I found this talk to be of great interest from my past experiences in working with people with brain injuries; assisting them in the physical, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of their rehabilitation. I believe those in the User Experience (UX) field should be taking a more genuine interest in how people behave, and not just in user testing.

We design for other people. So does it not stand to reason that a basic understanding of how the mind works, what motivates people, drives them to certain behaviors, how they perceive value, etc all be a standard field of study for those who claim to be an expert in UX?

The web is a conversation. The importance of context is being argued by many thought leaders in our respective industries. In a quick conversation on twitter Will Evans, myself and others were debating about the notion of which element is “king” today. Is it conversation, context, or content?

I jumped into the discussion stating:

@semanticwill engagement with others is only possible when an open dialogue is created. conversation is the portal to potential.

and Will responded…

@jeffparks and conversation is predicate on shared language, which is predicated on shared context, ergo context is king, QED.

People, like it or not, are social creatures. We need to start with that understanding and focus more on the emotional side of User Experience and less on the technological aspects.

As Doctor Sacks points out

As a physician I have to define what is going on and to reassure people…10% of visually impaired people get these, but no more than 1% of people acknowledge them…the notion if you see things or hear things is that you’re going mad. The psychotic hallucinations are quite different…they address you, the accuse you, they seduce you, they humiliate you, they jeer at you; you interact with them.

This same premise is true in the User Experience discipline. There are many with brilliant ideas and insights who are afraid to share because the community thought leaders may think their ideas are less than worthy or unimportant.

Whether believed to be real or imagined this is an issue the leaders in all communities practice will need to address immediately if they hope to survive in the coming years.

In conversations with thought leaders around the world over the past few years most agree with this notion however they see it as an enormous challenge to shift the focus from an ingrained quantitative corporate culture to one that acknowledges the enormous value of connecting with people at a human level.

Remarkable! If I were to sum up my experience in Jamaica to-date, remarkable would be the closest word to describe this incredible community. Simplicity of lifestyle; passion in the ideas shared and debated; and above all else a genuine respect for others make this country a model for the rest of the global community.

Zed Jamaica has brought myself and business partner from Digital Word, Kristina Mausser, down to present to local businesses on IA/UX, writing for the web, and social media. Having the pleasure of visiting with many in this beautiful community in my short visit thus far, I’m very excited about sharing experiences with local businesses…for reasons that have nothing to do with monetary gain.

There is a genuine desire to learn in this culture. Unlike many in North America who believe their title, position, or authoring of a book somehow implies that their knowledge is superior to others; ego is not a factor here. The ability to look at problems from different perspectives, to try new experiences, to learn from past mistakes, all are foundational elements for growth in any corporation, culture, or community; something Jamaicans have in spades!

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing both “old” and “new” Kingston. Jamaicans are both proud of their past and at the same time acknowledge a troubled history without reliving it. (Much in the same way Canadians honor our Veterans on Remembrance Day, “Lest We Forget”).

A beautiful and sobering example of this can be seen in “old” Kingston with this memorial to children killed during past violence in the city. When the water flows, it falls through the eyes of the child symbolic of the sorrow the community feels for the loss of their children.

Unfortunately this is the image that many in the world have of this country and nothing could be further from the truth. Yes there is violence in their inner cities but no more so than what one would see on CNN about such crimes in the United States or Canada. To focus on such issues misses an amazing opportunity to witness the strengths of the people in this kind and compassionate community; something we as North Americans don’t value enough.

Imagine a call center at AT&T or Rogers who had people with this character and genuine desire to help other people when they call in about a problem. Try and fathom a corporate culture in your own work where leaders passionately and respectfully debated ideas to ensure the very best products and services for their customers. This is the opportunity that exists in this beautiful country and one that I’m truly honoured to have the opportunity to experience.

In short, family and community matter most. I’ve seen this first-hand while spending time with Zed Jamaica’s Managing Director, Carlton Grant, seen below with his seven month old son, Jason. With a work ethic second to none, Carlton’s passion for his work never comes before the needs of his family. Character and class are the two words that come to mind in my short time speaking with and sharing ideas with this gentleman.

Thank you to Zed Jamaica and I look forward to the workshops and future opportunities to share ideas and experiences in a reciprocal way with all Jamaicans!