The ‘Final’ Myth
We see ‘finals’ in sporting events, in stage plays, and in corporate presentations. But are they really final?
Tuesday, 23 July 2019
Hi there!
On the second Sunday of July 2019, the sporting world witnessed two thrilling finals, at least one of which, left many of us heartbroken. The concept of ‘final’ though, isn’t limited to sports.
- Final examinations at the end of the academic year.
- The final performance — perhaps a stage play, or a keynote presentation.
- The final version of the product that gets shipped to the market.
… and so on.
The essence of the word ‘final’, is that something is coming to an end. Finals give us a dead-line — motivation to complete our goals or work.
Looking beyond final
In nature, though, nothing truly ends. Even when a plant withers away, it turns into life-giving soil.
What if we were to re-open our textbooks after the examination, re-draft the pitch-deck after the presentation, continue building the product after shipping it…
Great athletes and teams go back to practicing their game after the finals irrespective of the result (unless they’re retiring!)
The opposite of final
Starting out as a designer, eager to put my best foot forward, I would carefully polish my deliverables, to make a final visualisation — investing extra hours, effort, and emotions. With such investments, receiving criticism can be hard, especially when it is “this is not what we need”.
With practice, I learnt to show my work at lower fidelity, taking inputs earlier in the design process. It was difficult at first — mainly because I’d been conditioned to practice for the final. My work environment encouraged me to discard the notion of a singular final, and look at everything as a series of works-in-progress. It then became easier to show ‘unfinished’ work, and get inputs earlier.
Over time, I learnt to accept that in design (and, by extension, design thinking), nothing is ever final. Even if a project is done and dusted, it isn’t final. There is always scope for improvement.
I began this newsletter on an impulse, to see where it goes. Your feedback would help me give this thought experiment some direction. Was this email helpful? What would you like me to cover? Am I talking too much? Simply hit reply and share your thoughts.
Warm Regards,
Kasturika
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