Quite some time ago in a very optimistic land called the late 90's, Bruce Mau began his Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. It's a short list of Mau's beliefs, thoughts, motivations and strategies.
While Mau continues to shape and influence the design community at-large, it's easy to see that the list transcends the design niche (Deena, you could easily apply some of these at one of your shirt-and-tie throwdowns). Optimistic landscapes change, but Mau's smile never stops (google it...you'll see).
So for those of you working Monday through Friday sans thick black-framed glasses, I encourage you to read all 43 points, develop your own, and keep checking back for more.
An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth
Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements that exemplify Bruce Mau's beliefs, motivations and strategies. It also articulates how the BMD studio works.
1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
While Mau continues to shape and influence the design community at-large, it's easy to see that the list transcends the design niche (Deena, you could easily apply some of these at one of your shirt-and-tie throwdowns). Optimistic landscapes change, but Mau's smile never stops (google it...you'll see).
So for those of you working Monday through Friday sans thick black-framed glasses, I encourage you to read all 43 points, develop your own, and keep checking back for more.
An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth
Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements that exemplify Bruce Mau's beliefs, motivations and strategies. It also articulates how the BMD studio works.
1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
[Additionally, check out Change Design: Conversations About Architecture as the Ultimate Business Tool. The book is a collaboration by NBBJ and Bruce Mau Design.]
