Most of the time, allowing our peers to think on our behalf benefits us. We trust the herd and societal norms because it saves us time and energy. We don’t have to independently gather data and analyze.

What is fascinating is seeing people follow the herd without understanding why they need to a certain thing. There is an incoming hurricane in my area, and I can say from first hand experience that while many people understand why they need hurricane supplies, a large portion of them are overbuying supplies just because they’ve been told to, or observe that everyone else is stocking up. This remains true despite many purchasers not knowing how they will use the products they buy.

A similar occurrence happened with the COVID-19 toilet paper buyout. Ignoring the scalpers, many people felt it essential to buy enough toilet paper to last months or even years based on their current consumption rate. Why?

This is because there is a difference between the reality of being prepared, and the perception of being prepared. In the original Matrix movie, Cypher is satisfied with the perception of being rich, powerful, and successful, despite the reality. Likewise, many of us are satisfied with perception of preparation only, as defined by the herd. And sometimes, in the case of hurricanes and toilet paper, this translates to comical decision making.

If you want to avoid financial trouble, be a creator. Creators get paid for what they create. Consumers pay for what they consume. Countries are mindful about how much they create vs. how much they consume. We should be too.

So the equation is quite simple: A creation mindset + time = financial resources.

If we want sufficient financial resources, we need to cultivate a creator’s mindset, so we continually create.

One of my mentors introduced me to the concept of “Design DNA.” What is Design DNA? Design DNA is the sum of your experiences and observations that form the building blocks of your design style and process. For example, here is part of my design DNA:

Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean Design: I spent several years working on a project with strong Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean influences. It changed how I viewed the application of these styles.

Disney Parks: I spent a portion of my career frequenting the Disney Theme Parks. This exposure to dozens of design styles, though often exaggerated, established an appreciation for valuing variety and uniqueness.

Minimalism: Ever since reading Focus Manifesto by Leo Babauta I’ve become interested in simplifying my life, and this translates across to creating work that is honest, with truth to materials. This taught me to value quality over quantity.

Flora: I’ve recently become interested in plants and trees. I’m fascinated with how they absorb and move nutrients. I’m amazed by the structures of trees, how strong yet flexible and resilient they are.

Not only does Design DNA influences how you think when creating something, it affects how you perceive the world. It determines what paintings you find beautiful, which designs capture you, and what products and services you tend to consume.

Next time you have a moment, consider what is in your Design DNA. you may find some insight into why you think the way you do.

Growing a design business is a challenging feat for many reasons. One of the biggest is due to the nature of design. Design is part art and part science. It is part subjective and part objective.

When you are building a design team, there is a certain amount of work that is objective. This is the 2+2=4 type of work. This work does not require a sense of artistry and can be done by less experienced team members as they learn, or by a machine. This is the work that scales.

The remaining work is art. The style evolves from the experience of the designer, and organizations will pay well to work with a designer that reflects their desired sense of artistry and style. When creating a piece of work, this style is the result of a million tiny decisions over the course of the design process that coalesce into the finished work. It is difficult to teach this, because you can not memorize a million hypothetical “if this, then this” responses. Rather, the instructor needs to teach the pupil how they think, which is no less challenging. It is also less practical as the design team becomes larger.

As a design team grows it must by necessity focus on the objective, scalable tasks. As a result, most design organizations, as they expand, loose their sense of style. This does not mean that they cease to produce thoughtful, successful designs. It means that as a whole, the organization looses it’s design identity.

My friend Mike and I started a sketching challenge. The challenge was simple; spend 15 minutes every day sketching. We both wanted to strengthen our visual communication skills. This seemed like a good way to do it.

I expected my skills to improve, and they did, slowly. What I did not expect was that there was a bigger benefit to sketching than merely learning how to create an image by hand. It was re-learning how to see.

I want to capture an image of a room, I can. In less than 5 seconds I can have my phone out of my pocket and snap a high resolution image of whatever it is I wanted to record. But I have not truly seen that room. I have not noticed the way the wall isn’t quite square, the way the light falls across someone’s face, or the forgotten nail on the panel board. These small details in agrégate make a moment worth capturing and are the reason, knowingly or unknowingly, I reach for my camera. Recording them slowly, deliberately, inefficiently, with a pen and a piece of paper, allows me to truly imbibe that moment. Even if I fail to adequately capture these moments in my sketches, I nevertheless have succeeded at learning how to see.

Blogs are difficult for me. This is not the first one I’ve started, but hopefully it will be the first one I stick with. One of the problems in the past has always been the internal battle that every creator fights through to share their content with the world; “is this worthy of being consumed,” and “is it worth my time to create.” The far bigger problem was my perception that in order for it to be a success, it must be well read. My perspective on these “problems” has changed recently. No longer is my goal to build a massive following. Rather, I merely desire to record the ideas that I have synthesized based on thoughts, observations, and beliefs about the world around me. I hope that by putting these words on the page and issuing them out into the world, it forces me to think critically about the world around me and helps me continue to pursue all that is good, beautiful, and true in my own life. I hope it does the same for you.