Designing the self - Define who you are and embrace evolution

English version of the talk "Se réinventer et être soi à l'ère du numérique"

Transcript

1. Designing the self Marie-Cécile Paccard November 2nd, 2016 Define who you are and embrace evolution Photo : Samuel Zeller
2. Photo : Samuel Zeller there is usually a huge amount of unseen work behind any public performance or public person: definition, rehearsal… through this work, we shape our public image.
3. My name is Marie-Cécile I am a designer. I give talks about my job, I write, I shape the world into a better place thanks to design. Photo : Thibault Paccard
4. i worked for 1,5 years to create Everything you can see here. I shaped every aspect of this slide (text, typography, colours, location and composition of the picture, my posture, my attitude, the choice of a photographer…) to show you a precise facet of me, with selected connotations. 
 But why 1,5 years to do that?
 Why so long? Photo : Thibault Paccard
5. The business cards vertigo… It all started with…
6. one very common day, we face our empty business cards box and figure out we need new ones. That’s when everything falls apart. « Maybe I should take advantage of this situation and change the design? I have moved on since then, maybe I should change my job title? But then, I’d have to change it on LinkedIn too, and on my CV, and oh my, this CV is just so outdated… Shivers are now running down my spine… Where should I start? What should I say? Thousands of questions now, WHO AM I? »
7. right here. Photo : Roxane Desgagnés Right. We’re not there yet. the sad thing is that business cards are just the very top of the visible part of the iceberg.
8. Photo : Roxane Desgagnés That doesn’t tell us which colour to pick for those damn cards. This is the question I want to address today: what should we do to reach the iceberg (our shiny new business cards) from the tiny ice plate we are standing on?
9. « One cannot
 not communicate. » Paul Watzlawick : Photo : Adrian Owen
10. Photo : Adrian Owen our communication is far from being limited to our business cards: Everything we say (or don’t say), everything we do (or don’t) carries a message. We communicate through non verbal channels: our bodies, our faces and even silence are communication. How does that influence the way we express ourselves and how we introduce who we are?
11. Are we part of it no matter what? The World Wide Web Hubbub Photo : Redd Angelo
12. Photo : Redd Angelo if we don’t come to the internet, it comes to us, wether we are a company or an individual, 
 private or not. We may have an online identity and presence that we are not aware of, even if we actively decided not to have any. Just check the Google results attached to your name or company. Sometimes, some surprising content may pop up…
13. quick check with my name: the 1st page results are okay, all the content here is mine. wait, except that picture.
14. all this content about me was created and published without me being aware of it.
15. a lot of this not only doesn’t belong to me, but I have no influence upon it…
16. Take the floor and speak! it means actively communicate on who we are and what we do. Photo : Clem Onojeghuo let’s change this and choose to
17. it is much easier to speak up from the moment we know who we are. Okay. What to say now? Photo : Tachina Lee quite a simple recipe:
18. our deep self tastes, spirituality, intuition, interests… who we aspire to be goals, aspirations, 
 life plans… Photo : Tachina Lee Who are we? two facets coexist:
19. our deep self tastes, spirituality, intuition, interests… the way the world sees us Who are we? two facets coexist: who we aspire to be goals, aspirations, 
 life plans… Photo : Tachina Lee and there’s even a 3rd one:
20. How to know who we are? Photo : Tachina Lee it takes some deep research work and some design of the self! « who we are » is not obvious:
21. « Design of the self » ? marie guillaumet introduced this concept at Paris Web 2015:
22. Why designing oneself? Photo : Mike Wilson Who we are is the outcome of circumstances that are often out of our hands: education, background, life path, relatives and friends, and lots of coincidences. People as well as companies end up being shaped by those unwanted parameters.
23. If we don’t design the self, others will do it for us. Photo : Mike Wilson Why designing oneself?
24. Design ? before we carry on, let’s clarify one thing about the word « design ».
25. Design? industrial design graphic design This word is often used when it should not, just to designate the surface of things:
26. Design! • Design is the very act of conceiving something to answer a need or solve a problem. • Design puts things at their right place, where they should be to function well. « Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. » Photo : Stanford University archives
27. the thank you! This was the Steve Jobs minute
28. • Define our values, and make sure we are at ease with them, • Dare to use them for decision making rather than relying on random interests, • Take the space we need to be ourselves, inline with who we are deep within. Designing oneself in 3 steps:
29. BE ONESELF Photo : Swaraj Tiwari
30. This concept is important for me. Why spend time and energy through a design process if we don’t do it with a deep acknowledgement of who we are within and if we don’t honour this work every day by living by our values without giving up to fear? Photo : Swaraj Tiwari BE ONESELF
31. Today’s world does not help us to be who we are… Photo : Michael Lokner
32. Photo : Michael Lokner Think about your last job interview. I’m sure that you were asked to prove your experience and skills, maybe even your know-how. But what about all the other aspects of your personality or skills you have outside of your job title?
33. knowledge skills Ambitions interests Passions values humane skills soft skills know-how needs empathy experience Me intuition rational spiritual emotions
34. skills Ambitions knowledge interests Passions values humane skills soft skills know-how needs empathy experience Me intuition rational spiritual emotions
35. Photo : Michael Lokner There are so many facets that could be used and promoted in our jobs: humane skills, intuition and empathy are absolutely crucial to perform most of them. Organisations would benefit from so much more if they took our ambitions and interests into account. By ignoring them, we forbid ourselves to develop a part of who we are that could flourish in our lives as well as in our companies.
36. what do we promote in ourselves? How do we want to be seen? How to design the self? who do we want to become? Photo : Tachina Lee back to the main plot:
37. through self research, develop a drive towards a reality that corresponds to who we are and in which we communicate more freely. Design the self
38. Organisations are concerned too! Design the self through self research, develop a drive towards a reality that corresponds to who we are and in which we communicate more freely.
39. where are you today? Photo : Kyle Anderson If you take a step back and look at how you communicate today, what would you change?
40. my goals my skills my experience my ambitions my values my life path my portfolio Don’t go head first and do it all at once! my cv my motivations Moi my business cards Photo : Annie Spratt
41. Photo : Sandis Helvigs Let’s start with a solid base, then 
 climb one step after the other.
42. My values who I am, how I do things, my presence to the world My purpose what motivates my actions, how I change the world My goals and means my tools and what I choose to work on My communication how I choose to carry my message Photo : Sandis Helvigs
43. Photo : Sandis Helvigs This method is based on my personal experience and in no way meant to be empirical. It is just, according to me, a good way to proceed with the most important, then narrowing down and easing each coming step. It’s easy to change the surface with good foundations on which we can rely to.
44. What’s important for you in your life? are there concepts that you carry with you? what are the humane values you believe in? 1 My values
45. Values that shine bright Designing the self is a topic that should be of interest to companies as much as to individuals. I picked the following examples throughout organisations which defined their values and showcase them proudly. « A humane company is fair in what it is and what it does. »
46. Values that shine bright don’t you think?
47. Values that shine bright don’t you think?
48. Values that shine bright don’t you think?
49. Values that shine bright don’t you think?
50. what makes you come alive? are there issues you want to turn into challenges? how will you solve them differently? 1 My values 2 My purpose
51. Purpose In his book « Reinventing organizations », Frédéric Laloux talks about the concept of purpose for a company or an organisation. It is much more than a positioning or a commitment. A purpose is the backbone to any organisation or project and substantiates its existence and actions. Photo : Swaraj Tiwari
52. What the world needs What is special about you Purpose sarah morris (wolff olins) :
53. Proactively question yourself about what the world really needs And it is NOT a jacket that inflates with the likes you get on Facebook. No. Courtesy of Mike Monteiro
 https:/ /www.youtube.com/ watch?v=WPU5jNP2BH0
54. Effectuation: what do you have at your disposal, what goals can you guess from it? what are your specific skills? how to action them to honour your purpose and values? 1 My values My purpose (evolutionary) 2 3 My goal(s)
55. My purpose and goal Make the world a better and nicer place, feel useful, 
 drive meaningful projects, get a sense of belonging from it, all in respect of my integrity, 
 ethics and well-being, 
 and never at my own expense. Photo : Thanh NGuyen
56. learn more: This tool helps me to take better decisions on a daily basis and reminds me of my purpose as a professional and my values as a human being. I wrote a piece on Medium (in French) about the whole process that drove me to write my purpose and goal.
57. They talk about their goals
58. What is your tone of voice? how do you apply it to your com tools? how will you communicate about your purpose? 1 My values 2 My purpose (evolutionary) 3 My goal(s) 4 My communication
59. Com tools inventory! back to your reality!
60. Have a look at each of your communication tools: CV, business card, website or portfolio, brochure, slides, LinkedIn profile… Start by asking yourself this straight-forward question : « am I depreciating myself ? Are my pics flattering? Are all my experiences worth mentioning? » A lot of people undervalue themselves without being aware of it. Innocent sentences, how they describe their products or how they express themselves negatively on social media for instance, bring a lot of damage to their online image. Your image and your products deserve the best you can give them online :)
61. A brand or a logo are not just advertising or marketing. They are the visual translation of your values and purpose. What we stand for how we stand out And don’t forget… See the mess Mozilla has started by asking the community to pick a logo design for them.
 https:/ /blog.mozilla.org/ opendesign/now-for-the- fun-part/
62. Hire a designer. and if you need one,
63. You cannot improvise yourself a designer. Designers are professionals that use design principles and communication codes to build a visual rhetoric around your brand: do not hesitate to hire one! Sometimes designers themselves need help: I did not hesitate to ask my peers for help in the process to redesigning my portfolio. They were a precious help in stepping back from the work I was focusing on since months.
64. Write your manifesto! let’s get our hands dirty with a first move:
65. They wrote a manifesto
67. In July 2013, the agency in which I was an employee wanted to grow. I felt that something fundamental was missing to support this process. I decided to create a 10-rules manifesto which would formalise our purpose. This tool was instrumental and helped us throughout the whole recruitment process. The manifesto was seen as a crucial step taken into the creation of the company’s culture.
68. And what about you? « « Photo : Jesse Stevenson
69. My values drive how I practice design. 
 I strive for a better world through user centered design. Being a designer means having a very strong sense of ethics. • I design for human beings : any design project has the same aim: being usable and being used. • as much as possible, I choose the projects where I invest my work in regards to their positive influence upon the world. • I advocate for good design practice rules with my customers • as much as possible, I push for a deep collaboration between my customers and me, a collaboration based on trust and the pursuit of a common goal
71. Photo : Andy Armstrong But what if we fail??? Failure is part of the process: embrace it! Nothing is a failure. Everything is a reason to learn. Fail again and again! That’s how we learn to iterate and test hypotheses and assumptions. Let’s learn to experiment and fail without judging ourselves so harshly.
72. everybody fails. Few talk about it.
73. L’instant Métaphore Photo : Annie Spratt Metaphore And we pick which plants will use the available space. Life is a garden. Time!
74. Choose wisely what
 you make of your 
 time and energy. if you don’t, others will decide for you. Photo : Annie Spratt
75. …and some « gifts » from life are not gifts at all! Photo : Christian Grelard you have the right to dismiss them.
76. …you can choose who you don’t want to be. if you don’t know who you are, Photo : Annie Spratt It is a first step towards what you like. Dismissing what you don’t like creates more space for future things that you will appreciate and will nurture you.
77. If you’re clear about who you want to be in any given situation, non-negotiably, the songs of the Sirens aren’t so alluring. » « Photo : Mirada Vigerova http://99u.com/articles/7086/a-master-plan-for- taking-back-control-of-your-life/comment-page-3 tony schwartz
78. Designing oneself is not that easy… and it asks for countless time and lots of efforts… Photo : Sarathy Salvamani
79. And when we think we’re done, Photo : Sarathy Salvamani we need to evolve to 
 keep up with the 
 ever-changing world!
80. evolve… (right, she’s just been fooling us since the beginning?) Define oneself… &
81. Let’s integrate change in our very design process
82. Evolving doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel. let’s welcome change instead!
83. What the world needs What makes you come alive Purpose « Stay aware and dance with your purpose. » Make your purpose evolutionary Brian robertson Fondateur d’Holacracy
84. They evolved
85. After a few years of existence, 37signals acknowledged that their biggest product, Basecamp, had become more than just a good seller. They decided to focus on it only and they even renamed the company after it. They evolved
86. « Teehan+Lax was organized it in such a way that scale was in conflict with the values of the company. « They evolved
87. Acknowledging that the company was losing sight of its balance and purpose, Teehan+Lax decided to just stop it. Their purpose was stronger than any reputation or business goal. They evolved
88. They evolved
89. French swimmer and athlete Florent Manaudou recently announced his wish to give up swimming and focus on another sport. A lot of people showed their disappointment and got critical about his choice. But maybe the Olympic champion wanted to freely explore another facet of his life that looked more fulfilling to him? They evolved
90. Photo : Utomo Hendra Saputra It is important to put oneself into question and step back from what we are doing, and do it often. I like to call it « move organically! ». Yoga teaches us to perform some moves that are just enough not to be painful while making our muscles stretch and improving our practice. No need to be always on the move. Life is made of peaks and plateaux, we just need to pay attention and keep an eye on what naturally wants to emerge. Move organically!
91. stay open to opportunities listen to our instinct, our needs move when all the lights are green! Photo : Utomo Hendra Saputra Move organically!
92. Change is inevitable!
93. Ten years ago, Facebook was just a small website aiming to become famous. Today, we share more than 5 billion things on Facebook every single day! Things change quickly, wether we like it or not. Change is inevitable!
94. « What if we stop trying to force the future into existence? What if instead we simply dance with what wants to emerge? » frédéric laloux reinventing organizations Photo : Pavan Gupta
95. Homework: Read those books. Please.
 (please please please.) Illustrated version! Pay what you feel right!
96. Now which tools to use? again, let’s clarify something.
97. Now which tools to use?
98. I have no miracle recipe for you : it’s up to you to do your own benchmark according to YOUR needs and select what tools are best to fulfill them. Of course, nothing is set in stone: if a tool doesn’t suit you anymore, you can change it. The only important thing is not letting your project be defined by the tools you use just because you know them well. Now which tools to use?
99. Photo : Tamara Menzi Changing something that works just for the novelty can put your project in danger. Wait until you have walked a few miles with a tool: it will help you to see where it doesn’t work and what/where to change. Don’t change for the sake of change.
100. Photo : Margarida Csilva Set up a meeting with yourself.
101. Photo : Margarida Csilva It can be every week, month or semester: pick your own pace. Then take a moment to settle and look back at the last timespan elapsed. Read your purpose and manifesto again, ask yourself if you are still at ease with them and if your latest actions reflect your values. If something needs to be changed, you should see it by now during those meetings with yourself. Set up a meeting with yourself.
102. Photo : Alexander Dummer Have FUN! Ask yourself quirky questions: what did you enjoy doing as a kid? What was your dream job/career? What reasons did contribute to set them aside in the end? Maybe you can change that today!
103. Imagine yourself and let yourself be scared :) Photo : Rik Godwin Make some little steps out of your comfort zone. Try to « fake it till you make it » and go to this meeting as if you were already the person you want to be in 1 year time. It can really be worth it! (and sometimes a bit scary too :D)
104. Designing oneself is refusing passivity. Be on the lookout, be active. Defy status quo, make conscious decisions!
105. « We have the option to decide whether or not we want to sit there and get blasted in the face by all of this stuff and continue to be overwhelmed and inundated with technology and decisions. Or we can figure out a way to step away from the hose. » Brad frost
106. the secret lies within, Photo : Kyle Anderson in your ability to see yourself in a different way.
107. Being oneself never disappoints. one thing for sure: Photo : Marie Guillaumet - Morgane Hervé
108. elle luna The crossroads of should and must
109. Thanks! Conception assistants and proof reading : Sara Thom, Goulven Champenois, Florent Goumy, Julien Fusco, Richard Godwin. Special thanks : Blend Web Mix, Christelle Mozzati. Photo credits : unsplash.com, authors names on each picture used.
110. « On ne peut pas ne pas communiquer » 
 http:/ /www.krauthammer.com/fr/ articles/on-ne-peut-pas-ne-pas- communiquer Valve - Company
 http:/ /www.valvesoftware.com/company/ Valve - Our people
 http:/ /www.valvesoftware.com/company/ people.html The Co-Operative Group Values and Principles http:/ /www.coop.co.uk/corporate/ aboutus/the-co-operative-group-values- and-principles/ Agile Collective’s Ethical Policy http:/ /agile.coop/about-us/ethical-policy Sarah Morris - UX and brand: a marriage made in heaven http:/ /www.wolffolins.com/views/ 133067988383/ux-brand-a-marriage- made-in-heaven Sarah Morris - Interact London 15
 https:/ /youtu.be/2wc4Eow38A8 Designer, où vas-tu ? https:/ /medium.com/france/designer-o %C3%B9-vas-tu-32009f863db2#.pfos8afqh Design is a Job - Mike Monteiro
 https:/ /abookapart.com/products/design- is-a-job Marie Guillaumet - Design de soi : valoriser son identité et son expertise sur le web
 http:/ /marieguillaumet.com/design-de- soi-paris-web-2015/ References
111. Welleda
 http:/ /www.weleda.co.uk/who-we-are/ who-we-are/page/who-we-are Lego https:/ /le-www-live-s.legocdn.com/sc/ media/files/marketing-tools/lego- education-manifesto- d218aa7fac50c89c1b307b8f1ab94b16.pdf
 Creative Mornings https:/ /creativemornings.com/manifesto Wattage - Well, we failed https:/ /medium.com/inside-wattage/ well-we-failed-77e795e16ecf#.qgqz7epb8 Teehan+Lax - And Now, For Our Next Act
 http:/ /www.teehanlax.com/story/our- next-act/ Frédéric Laloux - Reinventing organizations
 http:/ /reinventingorganizations.com Brad Frost - I have no idea what I’m doing
 http:/ /bradfrost.com/blog/post/i-have- no-idea-what-the-hell-i-am-doing/ Elle Luna - The Crossroads of Should and Must
 https:/ /medium.com/@elleluna/the- crossroads-of-should-and- must-90c75eb7c5b0 Designer, où vas-tu ? https:/ /medium.com/france/designer-o %C3%B9-vas-tu-32009f863db2