Design Element: Don’t Kill Their Energy

Once you cut off a person’s nose, there is no sense in giving them a rose to smell!

One of the greatest learnings passed on to me by my teachers, is to not stand in the way of a person’s energy. Always go with it and take it to where you need them to go. I like to think of it as the shepherd and the flock. A shepherd never stands in front of the flock and yells’ “STOP”, that would be suicide. A shepherd works with the energy of the flock and moves them from the sides, never breaking the energy of the group. It’s not my job to start and stop a group’s energy, but to sculpt it. In the end if it looks like they have done it themselves, that is the true reward and one which will keep people coming back to smell the roses.

Design Element: Ask the Dumb Questions

Oh see the happy moron.
He doesn’t give a damn.
I wish I were a moron.
My God, I think I am.
-Anonymous

Asking the dumb question often elicits some simple, powerful answers. It is also the question that is plaguing people’s minds at the core, however because we are always concerned with looking, as opposed to being, knowledgeable we shake our heads in agreement when we could be saying, “I don’t understand”, “How does that work”, “No, I have never learned that, would you please explain”. As they say, the only truly dumb question is the one that is not asked.