Blog Category: Design of results
Design of results October 31, 2008
Our last day in considering the role of design in achieving your results.
Yesterday, we discussed what change you could make that would be a “game changer”? Something that has implications and impacts almost all of your life in a positive way? This is the kind of thinking that dramatically shifts results for the better.
We discussed items that we could eliminate and items that we could add.
Some examples that we discussed: add a regular bedtime, change the addiction to negative news and election coverage, add planning every day before the end of the day.
Designing something *before* you build it makes sense.
Removing elements that are not part of a good results design simply increases the odds of what you want.
Getting support for your results is part of the design – just as is your attitude.
By this time in our work, you’re experiencing a far greater understanding of how results occur. We’ll end today by considering the relationship between self-esteem and results – the topic of next week’s class.
Design of results October 30, 2008
In this week’s focus on design as it relates to improving our results, today we’ll continue to consider the relative importance of design elements. Clearly, elements differ in importance. One might say that elements range from structural as the most important to minor details as the least important.
There’s a saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff; it’s all small stuff,” and perhaps from a grand philosophical perspective, that’s true. However, in the study of results, there’s big, small, medium and all kinds of sizes and shapes of “stuff” to be considered.
Today, please think about a design element that you could remove altogether and / or improve the quality of it in order to make a significant difference in your result. For example, removing or reducing sugar from one’s diet could have a tremendous beneficial impact on health. We’ve all heard that before, but this time, think about it from the perspective of sugar as simply among the design elements that make up your physical results. It’s a variable whose quantity makes a difference in overall health. Try to be dispassionate about it.
Today, let’s choose a design variable to reduce or remove altogether – and then perhaps conduct an experiment for a period of time. You can then assess the wisdom of having that variable included or excluded.
Design of results October 29, 2008
As we continue to consider the role of design in achieving your results, today we’ll think about your role and responsibility as primary designer.
Every human has the ability to impact results by taking an active role in designing. There’s an old saying that “Design is problem solving.” When we think about it, every “design decision” impacts in some way the outcome. Good design is the sum of its parts.
A simple example: a vacation. If you’ve planned ahead, you’ve designed an airline schedule and price that works for you. You’ve researched your destination and you have created a plan about where to visit. You may have bought a travel guide. Perhaps you’ve talked to people who have visited your destination to get their recommendations. Although you may not think of it in these terms, you have a “design” for your trip.
All of these actions are design elements. If you change any one of them, you change the result. The more important the design element, obviously, the more impact it has on the outcome. The more problems you solve effectively, the better the design.
Consider your role as chief designer of your life. What can you change? What can you increase? Decrease? Today in Study Hall, we’ll consider how your life’s results shift by making changes in design.
Design of results October 28, 2008
Charles Eames was a famous 20th Century American designer and architect . He is famous for his furniture and iconic homes. He said:
“Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.”
We normally think about design in conjunction with an item of furniture, a home, a landscape. We imagine creativity and beauty.
Try on the notion that using design skills for all results can be a very productive approach. Today, we’ll discuss a design improvement – tangible or intangible – that you may wish to include in how you “accomplish a particular purpose.”
Design of results October 27, 2008
I’m hoping that everyone enjoyed a bit of weekend time to rest. Our topic this week is the design of your results.
In this context, the word “design” means all the elements that go into creating a specific result. Suppose the desired result is a birthday party: lots of resources, ideas, work and materials go into the birthday celebration. Think of all of these as design elements – just as a car would have four tires, a steering wheel, an engine.
Having superior results requires attention to design. A car without an engine is going nowhere. If a birthday party had no birthday cake, its lack would negatively impact the desired specific result of celebrating the birthday.
What these examples teach us is the necessity of thinking through all of the design elements: material, labor, skill, imagination, finances, etc. – even intangibles like attitude and psychological perspective.
In class this week, let’s work with one of your projects and, for the exercise, we’ll go into deep detail about all of the design elements required for its success. Consider the example of a mission into space with humans on board, and you’ll understand the “mission critical” nature of design. Everything has to be considered and included for success.