Redefining Egoism In Design Today
Last night I was watching the movie made from Ayn Rand’s wonderful book The Fountainhead. I read the book years ago. It’s is a great story about egoism and greatness. It’s a tale about a visionary artist fighting against conformism. The main character, Howard Roark, is a genius architect that clearly puts his own goals above that of his clients. In the beginning of the story he turns down a much needed assignment because the client wants some changes to his design. He says:
“I set my own standards … I don’t build in order to have clients, I have clients in order to build.”
The client finds this odd and asks:
”Can’t you give in once? You have to live.”
He replies:
“No, not that way.”
Then he goes on to work in a mine. He’d rather not design than design what other people want.
The genius designer
The book was first published in 1943 and it speaks of a mental model of the genius designer. The genius separates himself from the rest of the people and in the movie he is brought in front of a court to deal with the fundamental social question whether an artist should be allowed to serve only himself. When Roark is in court, the prosecutor asks the jury:
“The issue on which you have to decide is the the crucial question of our age: has man any right to exist if he refuses to serve society?”
In his defense Roark says:
“No creator was prompted by a desire to please his brothers … His truth was his only motive. His work was his only goal. His work, not those who used it. His creation, not the benefits others derived from it … He held his truth above all things and against all men. He went ahead, whether others agreed with him or not. With his integrity as his only banner. He served nothing and no-one. He lived for himself. And only by living for himself he was able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement …The reasoning mind … cannot be subordinate to the needs, opinions and wishes of others … Every great achievement has come from the independent work of an independent mind.”
No constraints
Rand celebrates the idea of the sole genius, the man who serves no-one, the artist that clients have to bow to, the designer that need total freedom and no constraints but his own. Anything that could possibly get in the way of his genius should be eliminated from the process. Only with total creative freedom can the genius designer create the works that will lift mankind to greater heights. If there are constraints, the genius might just as well die. As Roark finishes his defense statement he says:
“We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live.”
User centered design
Roark would have a hard time working in an age where the needs of the user determine so much of the design. He would be disgusted by the current mental model of user centered design. Giving the people what they want is the worst thing a designer can do according to Roark. We are now living in the world where he would not permit himself to live.
A new mental model of the genius designer
But, although the user needs have entered the design process, the myth, the mental model of the genius designer has not disappeared. In a world where user research and continuous stakeholder validation is the norm, there is still a need for the genius of the designer. Just asking what users want and building that will not lead to great solutions. If everyone uses Design Thinking tools, that will not automatically lead to good designs. Design is still a craft. But the craft has changed. The craft of design is no longer coming up with the most brilliant solution. The craft of design today is about finding the most catalystic questions. The craft of modern design is about creating engaging connections between all stakeholders and technical and organizational conditions. The new craft of design is about hacking systems and creating change, about moving people, about educating people about what they should want. The genius of the modern designer lies in his ability to hack, to engage, to communicate, to move, to uncover the right questions. The modern designers dives deep into the complexity of business challenges and emerges with simple, elegant solutions that bring all stakeholders in an organization one step further on their journey.
Increasing the value of design
But the old mental model of the sole genius is also still around. A whole generation of designers grew up with the ideal of Howard Roark. They still believe that the best work will come from a situation with no constraints. They still believe that design is a form of art. They still complain about clients that don’t understand their creations. They still crave more time and freedom. They are still driven by their ego, their desire to create beauty for themselves. They still place their standards above those of others. And, truth be told, they still make brilliant designs. Those designs are still prominent in most design agency’s portfolio. But their beauty distract us from the bigger value design can bring, not only to organizations, but to the world. If design can help businesses solve their most pressing challenges in the areas that they are now facing like digital transformation, innovation and humanization, design can bring more value. And if designers can design products and services for organizations that will truly help people, they can add more value to the world. Design has so much potential power, but the old model of Howard Roark is standing in its way. The beauty of design is so tempting and the idea of the creative genius so appealing that it obscures the true power of design. If we let the mental model of Roark live, we will have a hard time moving up on the Danish Design Maturity Ladder:
If design is to be anything more than form-giving (step 2), design needs to change. If design is about ego, design cannot be about process (step 3), let alone strategy (step 4). In the book and film, Roark is victorious, but going from step 2 to 3 requires killing Howard Roark and embracing a new mental model of design genius.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you enjoyed it. I will dive deeper into the topics of Design Leadership and Design Thinking in upcoming articles. If you follow me here on Medium, you will see them pop up on your Medium homepage. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
