Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Flexible Thinking: When Expectations and Results Don’t Line Up

Around 20 years ago, I had the good fortune of receiving a recommendation to read the book?The Four Agreements?by Don Miguel Ruiz and subsequently?picking it up. It is a short and simple book that the author says is based on ancient Toltec wisdom. While the book amplifies the premises by examples, these are the four personal agreements:

• Be impeccable with your word.
• Don’t take anything personally.
• Don’t make assumptions.
• Always do your best.

 I do my best to keep these agreements with myself in mind on a daily basis as I navigate the world around me. I’ve found that they are often applicable in many unanticipated ways, from personal relationships to business and even into process development and invention, which have been central to my career since I first encountered them.?
 
This brings us to this month’s theme:?“What does the electronics industry expect of its designers,” or from the designer’s perspective, “What do you expect from me?”
 
At this point, one might be inclined to say, “I want perfection, of course,” but we all know it is unlikely that will ever happen. There are always things that don’t quite go as planned. Mistakes are “as perennial as the grass” (to lift and perhaps misuse a line from Max Ehrmann’s wonderfully inspirational poem “Desiderata”).
 
While first-pass perfection may be unlikely, it is not beyond approach. In last month’s  column, I put forth the notion that rather than suggesting that designers adapt to designing?for?manufacturing, they should be designing?with?manufacturing. Designers, I argued, need to understand manufacturing before they can design effectively.
 
Agreement 1
This brings us to the first agreement: “Be impeccable with your word.” Designers must be honest with themselves as to their knowledge and carry that knowledge shamelessly into any discussion with manufacturing. It is okay not to know something. The same requirements hold true for the manufacturer. There is a partnership between design and manufacturing, and open and honest communication is required—especially when something new is being added to the mix. Bluff and bluster have no place at the table. 
 
If some design feature is beyond a designer’s experience, set up expectations early on in the process. As stated earlier, mistakes are okay. That’s how we learn and grow, but if the risks and costs are going to be high, they need to be known up front. Remember that you are a team, not adversaries.
 
Agreement 2
“Don’t take anything personally” is the second agreement, and it is also important. An individual’s feelings can be potentially injured by others whose manners are less sensitive. Sometimes, criticisms are made that are well intended but can sting on occasion if delivered carelessly. I trust that all designers take pride in their work, and when others make what are intended to be constructive comments, it can undercut our self-esteem, but it should not and cannot. 
 
Don’t react at the moment but ponder the event. If you step back for a moment, you may be able to better appreciate that the comments were not about the individual but about the product, which is separate from yourself. It also opens us to be more receptive to the message and potential improvement of the product. That said, one should also guard against being gaslighted by the occasional individual who does not fully appreciate or understand the idea and makes one question their own thinking and convictions. They are out there.
 
Agreement 3
Agreement three is, in some ways, akin to agreement 2. The advice not to make assumptions is not always easy to follow. If the designer assumes that what they have put together can be built because they have designed it, they may fall into a trap. Circling back to last month’s comments, the reality of manufacturing’s capabilities may not meet with assumptions designers make, and the project comes to a screeching halt. 
 
One way to avoid this is, again, design with manufacturing. Don’t forget your assumptions completely, however, because they could be a future springboard to something important yet to come—a proverbial “aha!” moment. But more likely, it will be something seemingly un-momentous. The great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov once sagely said, “The most exciting phrase to hear in science—the one that heralds new discoveries—is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny...’” It is the seemingly mundane that can often yield the greatest surprise and reward. Making assumptions can rob one of such moments.
 
Agreement 4
The final agreement is one that I think is perhaps the most important one: “Always do your best.” No one should expect less than the best from themselves. I had a boss years ago that would flip out if he heard someone say something was “good enough.” Good enough is never good enough; it is a capitulation to the mediocre. That said, the best that one can do may well vary from day to day. We all have on and off days. When the designer—or anyone, for that matter—stumbles and makes an error, they are human. 
 
We strive for perfection; hopefully, we get close or even achieve it from time to time. However, we ought not to beat ourselves up when we fall short; we simply need to resolve to make our best better in the future. Designers are the leaders of the electronics parade, as I have said before; they script the music, and the rest of the industry plays. If the industry hits the occasional discordant note, that’s part of the process of making something special in the end—something all involved can celebrate when it is ultimately done right.
 
Summary
Things will not always go perfectly on the road from design to finished product. Expectations will not always be met on the first pass, but by making a few simple agreements with ourselves, we can hopefully navigate our way to the desired end with the least amount of angst and frustration.
 
This column originally appeared in the May issue of Design007 Magazine in the FLEX007 section.