Peter Edman
Alan Jacobs calls our attention to the blog of Douglas Bowman, a lead designer at Google who is leaving that company. Bowman explains his rationale for moving on in a provocative post:
Without a person at (or near) the helm who thoroughly understands the principles and elements of Design, a company eventually runs out of reasons for design decisions. With every new design decision, critics cry foul. Without conviction, doubt creeps in. Instincts fail. “Is this the right move?” When a company is filled with engineers, it turns to engineering to solve problems. Reduce each decision to a simple logic problem. Remove all subjectivity and just look at the data. Data in your favor? Ok, launch it. Data shows negative effects? Back to the drawing board. And that data eventually becomes a crutch for every decision, paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any daring design decisions.
It would be a useful exercise to extend this argument to other fields, notably ethics. Do you find parallel situations in the organizations you lead? How important is it for to leaders to understand the principles by which their organization is run?
Are there situations where you are tempted to rely too much on data—science, polls, market “demands,” what is technically possible—to take the “subjective” factors out of the decision and make sure no one is ultimately responsible for a decision. Is this what causes a “corporate mindset”?
By what standards do you evaluate criticism of yourself or your organization? How do you help other people in your organization understand core principles, whether ethical, operational, or aesthetic?
Gleanings, Being Human, Character and Ethics, Leadership, Science and Technology, Fri 20 Mar 2009
The best way of telling the difference between those two opposites—righteousness and self-righteousness—is that righteousness has a sense of humour. Self righteousness never does.
Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, March 2007
The Mirage of Peace: Understanding the Never-Ending Conflict in the Middle East by David Aikman.
Aikman goes behind the headlines to explain the issues of the Middle East from a balanced perspective.
Decoding the Language of Faith
Forgiving Enemies in Northern Ireland
President Obama’s Proposals for a Second Fiscal Stimulus: Senior Fellow Prabhu Guptara: “Is there anything short of divine miracles which will be good for job creation, good for the small business sector, good for the economy as a whole, and good for President Obama?” (Renaissance: Insights for Action in Today’s World • 2010 02 09)
How the Victoria and Albert Museum dealt with the dying of Christianity: “This situation is unprecedented in western civilisation: even 50 years ago, when these galleries of one of the richest collections in the world were last displayed in the V&A, they could assume that everyone was familiar with the rudiments of Christianity. Now, in a twinkling of an eye, 2,000 years of culture in the profoundest meaning of the word have been largely forgotten.” (Anna Somers Cocks, The Art Newspaper, December 2009 • 2010 01 05)
The God that Fails: David Brooks: “Many people seem to be in the middle of a religious crisis of faith. All the gods they believe in — technology, technocracy, centralized government control — have failed them in this instance.” (New York Times, December 31, 2009 • 2010 01 05)
From Winchester to Westminster: Jonathan Aitken discusses Sir John Templeton recently in the American Spectator; here’s a quote from the late philanthropist on gratitude: “Thanksgiving opens the door to spiritual growth. If there is any day in our life which is not thanksgiving day, then we are not fully alive. Counting our blessing attracts blessings. Counting our blessings each morning starts a day full of blessings. Thanksgiving brings God’s bounty. From gratitude comes riches—from complaints, poverty. Thankfulness opens the door to happiness. Thanksgiving causes giving. Thanksgiving puts our mind in tune with the Infinite. Continual gratitude dissolves our worries.” (The American Spectator • 2009 09 11)
• Welcome, National Affairs (2009 09 08)
• Looking for an Honest Man (2009 09 08)
• Why AI is a dangerous dream (2009 09 08)
• Restoring the Fresco of Progress (2009 08 28)
• The Case for Working With Your Hands (2009 06 04)
Religion in American Public Life: Living with Our Deepest Differences by Jean Bethke Elshtain, et al.
