Several years ago I was in Copenhagen Denmark with my wife, and we were going through a Danish furniture museum. The Dutch (and Scandinavian’s) are famous for their timeless furniture designs. There is a decent chance you have some type of furniture in your home right now that was inspired by designs from these Scandinavian designers.
I was particularly curious about how one could be so consistent in a design and have the design resonate with people for decades to come. There was a plaque that I read that contained an idea that has stuck with me ever since I read it.
This designer said he would design one level of abstraction up. If he were designing a chair, he would think about the room in which the chair would occupy. If he were designing a room, he would think about the intent of the room and the space it occupied in the home or office building. If he were designing a home or office building, he would think about the community in which it resides. The end goal was to find a perfect blend of form and function.
This concept resonated so well with me because I have quickly become overwhelmed when thinking about multiple layers of abstraction. What I also find interesting about this idea is that as you move up in layers of abstraction you have less control of the outcomes.
In your next (or current) project you are working on, think about what level you are working on. If you as a leader take the level of abstraction too high, you will end up alienating your team or colleagues as I shared in a previous post.
Design for one level of abstraction up, zoom out, and you will have greater impact in all that you do at work, in your community and at home.
