Picture a frame

Picture a frame. It has an outside border on all sides to hold an artwork in place. And it hangs on one single point. Your project is all alike. You should give four outside borders to your projet, two majors and two minors.

• What are your projet limits?
• Which five limits do you select to frame and hold your project?
• What are the two minor ones?
• What are the two major ones?

Keep them in front of you at all time. Those are the outside borders of your project.

Then choose the one holding your frame and focus on it.

Let's say you want to improve a kitchen knife. So you decide to come up with a knife design, cheap, light, sharp and durable.

Surely you compromise, because, with multiple goals, you play it safe.

But what if you pick just one?

What if you seek to make the sharpest knife ever? Or the most durable one? By optimising for just one attribute, you eliminate most of the compromise from the design discussion. As a result, you're far more likely to encounter something extraordinary. It might not be practical, you can always compromise later.

It's almost always easier to roll something back a little than it is to push it forward.

-Seth Godin

“Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.”

-Gilbert K. Chesterton

See you on Tuesday, until then, feel free to share and comment…