Tag: taste

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Pieces

Rarely does the vision come to you “whole.”

I think I’ve seen the entirety of a plan in an instant once in the last four years.

For me, everything else comes through the work. The vision comes in pieces and uses time like glue to put everything together.

That looks like:

  • One Saturday morning reading blog posts and taking notes
  • Talking through an idea with friends
  • Taking a walk or hitting the gym (super important)
  • Walking through design with a mentor
  • Having a great sandwich (seriously)
  • Perusing through emails
  • Digging through slack
  • A video game session
  • Talking trash with my roommate

Some of these things are advice (I reccomend saving all your articles and reading them at once – game changer), but recognize some of this isn’t anything “productive” at all. Some of it is fun. And all of it is necessary.

We aren’t robots, and experiences count in weaving our point of view.

“Snap of a finger” success is usually narrative because taste distinguishes us from the pack.

Taste takes time. 

It only takes ten dark and stormy years to make one overnight success.

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Quality vs Taste

There is a difference.

This week, on the beautiful “The Moment with Brian Koppelman” podcast, Brian Koppelman had Seth Godin on as a guest.

One of the things that Seth needed to clarify was the definition of quality, which he noted the meaning as “matching the specification.”

That is it.

I think people mistake what they call quality as taste. When we think about what things mean to us, or how people perceive them, we aren’t thinking about the specification, we’re thinking about everything else.

AI is good at quality. It can do “quality” faster than we can.

AI can’t do taste.

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Get Taste from Feedback

Go!

If you want to get better at whatever you do, there are three things I need you to do:

  • Decide you want to get better – trust me, make the promise to yourself now, it makes the next two things easier.
  • Find people who also want to get better – the more serious they take it, the better. Our skills are sacred; they deserve to be in a community that believes that too.
  • Make stuff. You know what this means. Go.

When you do those three things, you’ve created the groundwork for good feedback.

From that, you get context and taste.

A sense of taste is the first step to working with impact.

Start.

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Taste is the Key to a New World – Lessons From November 2016

A New World Exists Based on Taste

It comes through the work.

Good taste is hard to find because it’s hard to cultivate.

There is no way for you to get to where you are going without putting yourself out there, without being vulnerable and doing the work.

The biggest lesson for me unpacking this theme was how much all of it went back to doing the work. If you look at any master, they have their dojo, and they set up performances. You can talk all you want; remember that there is no substitute for being there.

It also isn’t free. You have to give to get. Some of the pain comes from showing your work, but if you don’t, you end up with more of a headache.

Your brain adjusts to seeing things with “taste” that you can’t see without doing the work.When it comes to paintings, artists see things that laypeople can’t see. Musicians hear music differently. Your superpower grows with you. It is unique to you –  There is no one “real” taste. We are all different.

The payoff, though, is tremendous. Ship.

Growing taste opens up a whole new world.

Books – My Goodreads Account

Newsletter – Subscribe Here

Did you know I send a newsletter out every Sunday? It is more personal than the blog, combining my personal stories with an overarching theme.  I also throw in some great links that I’ve found on the internet.

 

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Taste Requires Self-Investment

Do you want good taste? Get vulnerable

Getting good taste requires a lot of things.

However, if you did those things without self-investment, then you aren’t doing much at all. You can’t invest without vulnerability.

When you invest in yourself, you are vulnerable. You have to care.

The thing is, you’re better if you go for it, even if it’s painful.

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Simplify Through Talking

Get it out of your system

Communicating your taste for laypeople has an excellent side effect.

It forces you to simplify and contextualize what you’ve done.

To do that, you have to go back to your work and figure out what is important. You have to ask yourself, what do you want people to take away?

There is clarity through simplification.

An excellent time of year to try this is during the holidays.

When your family gathers around the table, see if you can explain your current project.

Take the questions they have and try to figure them out. What inspired them to ask?  It is a chance to get to know someone’s worldview, and it’s useful, even if they aren’t your customer.

Don’t get defensive. Those around you want to help, and those notes they are giving through questions are perfect to take back to your workshop to improve your pitch.

It’s a great barometer for oversimplification, too.

If you want to save whales and they think you are trying to save the ocean, it’s time to reframe.

So, talk and know your product better through other’s eyes.

Your family and friends will appreciate getting to know you a bit more, too.

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Show Your Work – We Are Bad at Guessing

It’s tempting not to share your work

The world seems to value “easy” when it comes to creative work.

So, you tell yourself that it isn’t worth showing the hard work you did.

  • The restless nights you spent answering emails instead of getting more shuteye.
  • The time spent away from loved ones while you answered one more phone call.
  • As a result of all these, you tell your boss that you’ve taken care of things and you are rewarded with more project assignments and less praise.

As a result, you tell your boss that you’ve taken care of it and your reward is often, more projects with less praise.

This result doesn’t make for a healthy work environment.

However, don’t take it as malicious.

Human beings do a horrible job at estimating the amount of work someone else did.

When you don’t show off what it takes, we assume it’s easy.

Take the time to mark down how long these things take. They help your boss understand how to manage and help you understand how to estimate (because we often misjudge time and estimates ourselves)

Know your worth, show your work.

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Taste is Not a Sprint,it’s a Marathon

Developing taste takes time

Marathons are fascinating. Although they have runners and a finish line, they aren’t races. It’s more of an endurance event, a test of someone’s will over the course of 26 miles. Because of its structure, certain things, “like pace,” become critical.

Experienced marathon runners know that keeping pace is important. They’ve practiced and know that they need to keep up a certain speed to stay consistent. Consequently, that consistency gets them to the end faster.

The amateur does the opposite. An amateur sees a race and speeds out ahead early. The amateur tries to “beat” the others around. As a result, this tactic results in failure at some point.

Your taste won’t be completely formed after a few weeks or even a year. It’s not a race. It’s a marathon.

Therefore, approach your “taste” like a marathon.

Focus on your taste’s pace. It needs to align with your It develops as and when you do.

See it as something that you are preparing for the long road ahead.

You’ll get there.

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Just Execute for Now

Sometimes taste means not offering direction

Starting a new job or project is exciting.

You want to start applying your taste right away.

One of the ways to do that is to give direction.

“This isn’t how this works; let me show you how I do it.”

It’s tempting. You’ll get to show off your “ability.” While it seems all well and good, you could shoot yourself in the foot when you do this.

Remember, as a new person in a role or position, you lack context. Consequently, it takes some time to understand what’s happening around you.

So, take a moment, and engage with the world around you.

For now, just listen and execute.

Don’t execute that grand new plan, not yet. You’ll eventually get there.

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The Idea in Your Head Can’t Do Anything There

Do.

That idea, do it.

It’s a new week.

Try it. Good or bad, your idea is a touch point for your taste.  Trust the world to give you an experience that helps you grow.

Guess what?

Whatever it is might change the world. Or it might not go past your laptop screen.

Either way, you are better to have done it.

So do.

We are all waiting.

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