“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few” ~Shunryu Suzuki
We don’t know, how many times we came out of the meeting room after our best ideas got rejected. Regardless of who you work for or where you work, being able to take criticism is part of the job. If you are a designer or artist you go through this every now and then. But remember, never get into the trap of doing the next work from your comfort zone or doing it for convincing the other person. Do always our best, experiment and fail.
Most of the time we think, it’s not our problem. But before we pointing our fingers at someone, let’s get some basics right.
There is nothing personal. We all need to improve our skills. The only way to get better is to seek constructive feedback. In a design project, there are a variety of stakeholders such as technical, business and marketing. We should be able to understand the perspectives of all stakeholders and communicate reasonable disagreements of fundamental truths. Just because someone disagrees with our ideas doesn’t mean we are wrong. Don’t get in to fight mode. Sit back and relax. We know it’s tough. Be there.
Now let’s back to the core of this article. I don’t know, who coined this phrase ‘Uncle Syndrome’. Such a wonderful phrase. What’s uncle syndrome? when we are getting older and more experienced in life we will have certain social conditioning, pre-judgments, and perspectives about certain things. Then we try to impose on other people without giving a space for them. For example: whenever a celebration happens, this kind of people says “oh man, old celebration days were really good and today is nothing compared to old good days.” Now you have got a very basic idea about Uncle Syndrome. But now you start observing it. It changes depends on the context.
So what’s this Shoshin?
We all are familiar with getting the cliched normal design instructions and call it standard. But you know, all the best creative works were always against the ‘Standard’. The best example is recent Dropbox redesign. In my early career days, I had a boss who always likes FUTURA font and BLUE color in almost all his creative works. I tried almost a year in that company then left the company. It was a great learning experience in my career. Now a days, I always try to keep aside my tastes and likes before I do / review/ appreciate the artwork or any ideas.
This article doesn’t mean that industry expertise and life experiences are bad. But over-glorifying it and ‘that’s the only right’ approach is we are discussing. All I have to say that we are working with human beings and every one are equal to give feedback. What needs to be taken always depends on many other scenarios.
I believe appreciating the original and fresh artwork need a great effort and self-training. It takes a lot of time to understand what other guy wants to communicate and his/her thought process. We need to remember the term Shoshin - is a word from Zen Buddhism which means “beginner’s mind”. It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.
Being a good team player, Shoshin is very helpful. We can approach every single idea with so much enthusiasm. Listen carefully. Rather than trashing without saying any single word, spend some time with them. Ask why they did like that, their thought process, try to find something good and make it better from there. When we give feedback, always explain our perspective and suggest alternatives also. Leave it better than you found it.
When we are getting older, beware of Uncle Syndrome. Remember the word- Shoshin.
