Arrogance & Humility: A High-Wire Balancing Act

It's always fun when we add a new member to our research advisory council because I get to dig into their background, points-of-view, experiences, etc. I love this quote I came across by our newest member, Clay Shirky:

Arrogance without humility is a recipe for high-concept irrelevance; humility without arrogance guarantees unending mediocrity. Figuring out how to be arrogant and humble at once, figuring out when to watch users and when to ignore them for this particular problem, for these users, today, is the problem of the designer.

This quote could just as easily be describing the high-wire balancing act of business leaders managing their employees; civic leaders and their constituencies; even teachers and their students.

You can read Clay's original blog entry here

Illustration by Louise Ma; appearing on A Brief Message

Posted February 13, 2008 10:48 AM by Chris Flanagan | Permalink