Comments on: Masters of Failure http://jeffparks.ca/index.php/community/masters-of-failure/ Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:13:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Jeff Parks http://jeffparks.ca/index.php/community/masters-of-failure/comment-page-1/#comment-230 Jeff Parks Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:01:20 +0000 http://jeffparks.ca/?p=1654#comment-230 I like that Jeff, "practice is a kind of training in failure." I suppose it can be if those who have failed are willing to take ownership of their mistakes along the way. People aren't rationale. They are, in fact, rationalizing. We justify our words, thoughts, and deeds to avoid cognitive dissonance - a psychological state that ensures we don't hold two thoughts that are opposing in the same idea. The thought that we are hard working, creative, professionals is contradictory to the thought that what we created was seen as sloppy, lazy, or uncreative. So we rationalize why things didn't work - "It wasn't my fault my boss is an idiot!" or "They made me change the design resulting in a poor UX." Taking ownership from your failures isn't about pinning the problem on other people. As Scott Berkun points out in the link you provided in an interview with Adaptive Path's Henning Fischer: "...listen to any group of designers talking over beers after work and you hear the same things: Either they’re failing because of their attitude, lack of a skill, or something to do with their organization." Their attitude is preventing them from learning from others, which in turn provides no motivation to build upon their skills. And if the corporate culture isn't adopting best practices in design then what is the designer doing to better understand the needs of the business which in turn can help him/her guide the organization to better designs? If you look to the past of the most successful people in our respective fields of IA/UX/IxD/HCI you'll find they have failed more times than those who are not as well known. You just don't hear about the mistakes; again something I think we should have the courage to share more often. I like that Jeff, “practice is a kind of training in failure.” I suppose it can be if those who have failed are willing to take ownership of their mistakes along the way.

People aren’t rationale. They are, in fact, rationalizing. We justify our words, thoughts, and deeds to avoid cognitive dissonance – a psychological state that ensures we don’t hold two thoughts that are opposing in the same idea.

The thought that we are hard working, creative, professionals is contradictory to the thought that what we created was seen as sloppy, lazy, or uncreative. So we rationalize why things didn’t work – “It wasn’t my fault my boss is an idiot!” or “They made me change the design resulting in a poor UX.”

Taking ownership from your failures isn’t about pinning the problem on other people. As Scott Berkun points out in the link you provided in an interview with Adaptive Path’s Henning Fischer:

“…listen to any group of designers talking over beers after work and you hear the same things: Either they’re failing because of their attitude, lack of a skill, or something to do with their organization.”

Their attitude is preventing them from learning from others, which in turn provides no motivation to build upon their skills. And if the corporate culture isn’t adopting best practices in design then what is the designer doing to better understand the needs of the business which in turn can help him/her guide the organization to better designs?

If you look to the past of the most successful people in our respective fields of IA/UX/IxD/HCI you’ll find they have failed more times than those who are not as well known. You just don’t hear about the mistakes; again something I think we should have the courage to share more often.

]]> By: Jeff Kraemer http://jeffparks.ca/index.php/community/masters-of-failure/comment-page-1/#comment-228 Jeff Kraemer Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:20:57 +0000 http://jeffparks.ca/?p=1654#comment-228 Thanks for this, Jeff. I love the video, and the general idea that it shows leadership when we acknowledge and learn from failures. Are you suggesting that practice is a kind of training in failure? To set up later success? That reminds me of something Samuel Becket wrote: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." (It's tough to quote Beckett without sounding pretentious, but hey.) Also, Scott Berkun seems to be looking into the subject of learning from design failures. Here's an interview, if you're interested: http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2009/01/27/why-do-designers-fail-an-interview-with-author-and-mx-speaker-scott-berkun/ Thanks for this, Jeff. I love the video, and the general idea that it shows leadership when we acknowledge and learn from failures.

Are you suggesting that practice is a kind of training in failure? To set up later success? That reminds me of something Samuel Becket wrote: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

(It’s tough to quote Beckett without sounding pretentious, but hey.)

Also, Scott Berkun seems to be looking into the subject of learning from design failures. Here’s an interview, if you’re interested: http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2009/01/27/why-do-designers-fail-an-interview-with-author-and-mx-speaker-scott-berkun/

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