r.s.w., or: the fundamentals of being awesome

Yesterday’s session of SI658: Information Architecture was dedicated to the teachings of Richard Saul Wurman (author, architect, founder of TED, and all around badass). We not only got to talk about him, we got to talk to him. Well, in a round-a-bout way, as our professor Dan Klyn was the one who did the talking over speakerphone, and we mostly did the listening and the laughing.

I will say, first, that the man has presence. Some of that may have been the fact that his voice was broadcast throughout the room, but I’d guess that he comes across larger than life no matter what circumstances you meet him under. I felt awe-struck listening to him, despite the fact that my understanding of his work was rather limited before last night.

In lecture, we learned that RSW’s method of IA can be structured like this:

An adaptation of Jesse James Garrett’s “The Elements of User Experience“

(via)

It’s the bottom three layers that really struck me, because they are principles by which I try to live my life, and I was surprised to see them come up as the foundational tools set down by the father of IA. It was incredibly validating to hear someone as accomplished and successful as RSW say that this, too, is how he structures his life.

1. Innocence and Ignorance

Also known as “beginner’s mind,” this is effectively the state of entering something with humble curiosity. “What is this thing?,” you ask yourself, “Why is it here and what is it made of? Where can I learn more?” The philosophy of Ignorance and Innocence means knowing that not understanding something does not mean you’re stupid, it doesn’t mean you’ve fallen behind, it doesn’t mean you’re missing out. It means that there is so much in the world to know. And here you are, at the beginning of something, with that knowledge at your fingertips. It means you have the opportunity to learn. Learning is at the very core of living, and the Ignorance/Innocence model means more learning, and hence more living.

2. The Importance of Failure and The Opposite Paradigm

Lesson one: Failure is just a part of success. Lesson two: Always look at the opposite side of what you’re trying to do. The point, here, is that we learn and create and succeed from the things we don’t expect to learn and create and succeed from. I also think of this as: Don’t get stuck. There’s always another way to do something as long as we don’t let ourselves get in our own way. As with Ignorance and Innocence, these principles urge you to enter into things with a certain level of humility. To accept failure as unavoidable and necessary, and to be willing to look at things outside of your expectations, means being okay with the fact that you don’t have all of the answers. Or rather, it means embracing the fact that you don’t have all of the answers.

3. Confidence and Terror

My favorite quote from RSW’s digivisit is the following:

“The balance of [terror and confidence] … are the two emotions that dominate my life … they’re the two you’re not supposed to have.”

He said this, and I could not nod my head enough. My road map through life, especially with school and with my career, has generally consisted of: “I am terrified of this thing I want but damn it I’m going to do it!” So far it’s worked out pretty well. I absolutely agree with RSW that this mix of fear and ego is a taboo. We’re not supposed to admit that we’re afraid. We’re not supposed to admit that we think we’re awesome. And to admit that we’re both unsure of ourselves and  sure that we will succeed in the end? For shame! We’re not supposed to say these things, and yet most people that I know feel exactly this way. We are scared, but we push ourselves because we believe we will succeed. And then we do. Because how else would anyone ever get anything done?

The last Nugget of Awesome that I’ll share from yesterday evening was when Professor Klyn asked RSW how he felt about getting permission, to which he replied:

“I give myself permission whenever the hell I want.”

RSW is not a man who needs other people’s endorsements on the things he does. He does them for himself. He will tell you that he didn’t mean to invent Information Architecture, he was just doing something that made sense for him, something he wanted to do. And yet, a field was born. He doesn’t ask whether other people agree with what he’s doing or think his ideas have merit, he just does them and hopes for the best. What a simple yet brilliant lesson: we can’t wait for people to give us permission. We can’t wait for someone to come along and push us into what we’re supposed to do. We have to build those things for ourselves, create our own path, live our own truth. It’s not about waiting, it’s about doing.