ISSUE 012

SOMETHING LOVELY
​that I saw

I have followed this account for a while now, and I love how they layer intricately cut plywood to create a variety of different abstract and architectural inspired pictures.

SOMETHING USEFUL
​for this week

I've sat in on a lot of conversations over the years that revolve around growth and ambition - whether it's personal growth, professional development/goals/ambition, or strategic (or not so strategic!) business growth and strategy.

A lot of those conversations defaulted to one thing: bigger. Bigger budgets, bigger clients, bigger team, bigger portfolio.

But I'm a firm believer that growth doesn’t have to mean scale. Sometimes 'less' can actually be 'more'. In the book Company of One, Paul Jarvis makes the case for staying small on purpose, arguing that businesses can succeed by getting better instead of getting bigger.

You can be just as ambitious about getting your evenings and free time back. About taking on fewer, more complex projects instead of more, simpler ones. About being the designer known for solving the hardest planning problems, not the one with the biggest budgets.

And growth's cousin, ambition, is just a direction you’re willing to push hard in. It doesn’t have to point toward “more.” It can point toward “better,” “deeper,” or “freer.”

So before you set your next goal, ask what you’re actually chasing. And if it's not size or scale of business, don’t let anyone (including yourself) measure your progress like it is.

SOMETHING INTERESTING
​that I'd like to share

Anyone familiar with Otis elevators? You’ve probably seen the logo in your local shopping centre or office building. The brand goes all the way back to the 1800’s, when elevators only ran on a single (usually frayed) rope, and could only be trusted with freight (not people!). Eep.

In 1854 a mechanic named Elisha Otis stood on a platform in front of a crowd at the New York World’s Fair. He had a flair for the dramatic, because he got an assistant to cut the only rope holding him up. With an axe.

The platform dropped a few inches, a spring-loaded brake Otis had designed caught it, and it stopped safely. Otis looked at the crowd and said, “All safe, gentlemen, all safe.”

Otis’s safety brake fixed the mechanics. But the public demo is what made him 'famous' - he staged a moment where the worst case happened in front of everyone and nothing bad occurred, essentially creating a very public moment of social proof!

Once people believed the ride wouldn’t kill them, buildings could finally start going up instead of out. Every skyscraper skyline in some way traces back to this one guy proving something wasn’t going to break, in public, on purpose. I respect his confidence, but elevators still make me a nervous!

If my CDS content or newsletter has taught you something you didn't know before - coffee's always appreciated.

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