TimKadlec.com

There’s a certain level of comfort in surrounding yourself with people like yourself. Comfort, however, is not often equal to progress. When it comes to expanding your mind to new possibilities and advancing your knowledge and skills, a little dissonance goes a long way.

While browsing YouTube diligently working, I stumbled upon a video showing how to open a banana like a monkey. I like bananas, and who doesn’t like monkeys, so I gave it a watch. Turns out, I’ve been opening bananas the wrong way my entire life.

Ideas and alibis are very much alike. Everyone has plenty of both. Some are good, and some are bad. The big difference is that while no one has a problem using alibis, very few are willing to consistently act on their ideas (me included).

One of the highlights of SXSW this year for me personally, was being able to see a panel with Andy Budd of Clearleft, a person and company for whom I have the utmost respect. The panel was about usability testing and the tools you can use to better know your users, but one of the major takeaways I got had more to do with how to approach your job in general.

Being wrong is a good thing. I know…I know…we’ve been told our entire lives that it’s better to be right than wrong. I think, though, that in the design/development industry, it’s good to be wrong sometimes.

While at SXSW, I had the privilege of attending a panel called Respect! During the panel, Jason Santa Maria made a comment that really struck me. He said that it’s “difficult to respect what I don’t understand”.