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Be Good At Lots of Things
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Lynn Fisher
October 11, 2015
Design
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Be Good At Lots of Things
A talk from Phoenix Design Week 2015.
Lynn Fisher
October 11, 2015
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Transcript
HELLO! Lynn Fisher @lynnandtonic
FOCUS
SPECIALIZE
BE GOOD AT ONE THING
None
None
None
INTERMEDIA
INTERMEDIA
None
None
None
CREATE ART IN THE SPACE WHERE DISCIPLINES OVERLAP
TRY
LEARN
BE GOOD AT LOTS OF THINGS
IS IT POSSIBLE?
None
SPECIALIZATION IS A GOOD THING
None
WHERE HAS OUR CURIOSITY GONE?
None
SPOILER ALERT
None
None
SPOILER OVER
“You’ll never be as good as someone who spends all
their time on it.”
YOU DON’T KNOW ME
THAT’S OK.
“You don’t have to become a pro to get value
from learning something.” PHILIP ROBERTS
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE GOOD AT SOMETHING?
None
None
EVERY PROJECT IN EVERY INDUSTRY REQUIRES WORK OF VARYING DIFFICULTY
EVERY PROJECT IN EVERY INDUSTRY REQUIRES WORK OF VARYING DIFFICULTY
“If there’s anything worse than a web designer who doesn’t
know how to code, it’s a web designer who codes poorly!”
“Developers need designers, not bug making machines.”
“I’m not a developer and I wouldn’t want my code
in production.”
WTF?!
“Our culture doesn’t support beginners.”
“I’m a bad teacher.”
“Do you only hire senior developers?”
CODE DOESN’T CARE WHO WROTE IT
WHAT ARE YOU?
“A title has no business attempting to capture the seemingly
infinite ways by which individuals evolve.” RANDS
BEYOND CATEGORY
None
None
None
YOU ARE NOT A PIE
“Don’t dilute someone’s skill set by trying to expand it,
play to the strengths of your team”
None
None
None
None
None
None
THAT’S OK.
None
None
None
None
CREATE ART IN THE SPACE WHERE COMMUNITIES OVERLAP
None
None
LITERALLY EVERYTHING IS ABOUT PEOPLE
BRING YOUR WHOLE SELF TO WORK
BRING YOUR WHOLE SELF TO WORK
“Do or do not. There is no try.” YODA
None
TRYING IS VALID AND VALUABLE
IT REMINDS US WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE A
BEGINNER
WE MAY FAIL
“You’re not a real ______ unless you ____________” SOME JERK,
PROBABLY NOUN ARBITRARY CONDITION
None
WE DEFINE WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE GOOD
AT
WE DECIDE WHAT MATTERS
“Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very
silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” HENRY VAN DYKE
PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF SO MUCH
TRY
LEARN
BE GOOD AT LOTS OF THINGS
THANK YOU Lynn Fisher @lynnandtonic