Killing in the name
Too many people do what they’re told. Worse, too many people do what they’re told without ever asking why. They blindly follow, unquestioningly, whatever mandate they’re presented with.
Which is why we’re surrounded by bad ideas, poorly executed.
Derek Powazek suggest that designers should try asking “why” instead of just saying “no”. Designers, both in print and on the web, are well-known for their ability to shoot down ideas. Particularly other people’s ideas.
And while Derek is undoubtedly onto something there, perhaps he didn’t go far enough. Maybe it’s not just designers, and maybe the right question isn’t “why”.
Maybe all of us need to stop being lemmings and start looking for better ways of doing things. The right question is a “what” two-parter :
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- What is the best way to get there?
Which, to be fair, may just be a more verbose way of saying “why?”
Whether you see the question as “what” or “why”, the point stands: question everything. Stop blindly following the herd leader, or you will lose your way. There’s just too many vague directives, poorly thought-out plans and just plain bad ideas out there.
And don’t accept pat, predictable answers. “Because the boss wants it” is not good enough. “Because we’re at war” isn’t either.
In fact, you can tell a lot about a projects potential path to failure by the kind of answers you get if you question something. Vague answers are a pretty good indicator of mushy or incomplete thinking behind the project. At the very least, the real goals aren’t being communicated, which is almost as bad. Hitting a moving target is a lot harder.
Bottom line: Any idea that can’t stand up to questioning should be immediately discarded in favor of one that can. And any person who can’t stand up to questioning should never be put in a position where they’re allowed to demand anything.
So, if the boss/client/voice in your head/whoever wants dancing bears on all company correspondence, or cartoon figures flying across the website, please — for the love of all that’s good and decent in the world — ask what they’re trying to accomplish. Ask why. Ask how many, or what color, ask anything.
Just ask questions. Sure, you may find the “Not a Team Player” label slapped on your back, but ultimately you, the team and the project will be better off than you would be doing your best lemming impersonation and hurtling yourself off the Cliffs of Mediocrity.
These days it goes way beyond work. If only the people and the press had asked questions — the right questions — and demanded satsifactory answers, perhaps we could have avoided this fiasco we call the Iraq war. These days, complacency can be dangerous.
Note: I do not encourage the use of dancing bears or cartoon characters on web sites unless you’re the Grateful Dead, Warner Brothers, or looking to make a fool of yourself.