💎 Friday Gems (The Scam, Design Fail, Disaster Artist, Doing Small Things with Great Love, and much more!)
Let’s become great at starting again! ✊🏽
You’re right, it has been a while since I published a Friday Gems post. I fell off the track, and I’m just now getting back to my writing, which feels really good.
Life has a way of showing us what we need to work on, and for me, it seems like beginning again is the lesson I must learn. I need to be comfortable starting again when life gets in the way.
Just because we stop doing what we love for a period of time doesn’t mean anything other than life got in the way.
We need to become great at beginning again. To get back to what we love, once we are distracted, without judgment.
Let’s become great at starting again! ✊🏽
Today's Gems
Personal Growth: The Scam called “You don’t have to remember anything”
The Mindful Designer
America by Design Fail
Disaster Artist: How To Survive When A Project Gets Ugly
Wisdom: Do small things with great love
Knowledge
The Scam called “You don’t have to remember anything”
That grinding, repetitive friction built something no language model can download into you: muscle memory for excellence.
This is the resistance training nobody talks about anymore. The more the world automates, the more value accrues to people who continue to condition their fundamental capabilities.
Admittedly, I have been using AI a lot more than I thought I would, both at work and in my personal life. AI is everywhere but as Paul reminds us, putting in the effort to go slow, to embrace the friction in our lives, to do the hard things that build up our muscle memory is what keeps us grounded and human.
Let’s continue to develop our fundamental capabilities to create originally, think creatively, and read deeply, so we use AI as a thought partner instead of a copy-and-paste resource to take the easy way out.
🔗 The Scam Called “You Don’t Have to Remember Anything”
The Mindful Designer
America by Design Fail
How did you manage to fail so epically at making the most basic website?
I may be late to the game on this. I don’t follow the disastrous news coming out of the White House every day but when I found out that 18F had been disbanded and a new agency had been propped up by the current regime, I felt sadness and anger.
18F had some of the best and brightest designers on the team with an impossibly large job in guiding government agencies to build, buy, and share technology products. 18F developed the US Web Design System, which helped build accessible and mobile-friendly government websites. 18F had been doing a great job as the US government’s digital agency.
Now we have this! 🤦🏽♂️
As designer Christopher Butler put it, “President Trump’s appointment of AirBnB co-founder Joe Gebbia as ‘Chief Design Officer’ of the United States is a sickening travesty. It not only proves a fundamental misunderstanding of both design and governance, but an unbound commitment to corruption.”
As with everything this President does, it will turn out a disaster and the American public will be left to pick up the pieces.
🔗 America by Design Fail
The Mindful Designer
Disaster Artist: How To Survive When A Project Gets Ugly
Whether you’ve been at it for 10 months or 10 years, the only certainty in life for creatives is that at some point, you’ll find yourself working on a project that disintegrates into the kind of diabolical shit-show that makes you question reality.
When I started my design career, I encountered numerous projects that went awry. At that time, I didn’t know any better and thought that’s just how things were done. Micromanagement, indecision, rudeness, spec work, and unpaid bills seemed like the price of doing business, that was, until I read Mike Monteiro’s book, Design is a job. Mike’s book helped me gain self-confidence to stand up for myself and see myself as being equal to the client and not someone who is at the mercy of a client. My relationship changed from then on out, which is why this article resonated with me.
Hearing the stories of how projects went south brought back painful memories from the past. This article is a must-read, especially for those starting, so you aren’t taken advantage of.
Here are a few of the examples shared in the post:
“For me, the projects that went sideways always had the same problem,” says brand design powerhouse James Martin, better known as Made By James, “I rushed in too fast. I jumped into design before we nailed the basics like scope, roles, and who actually makes the call.”
“It quickly became apparent that neither the client (a multi-national sports brand) nor their agency knew what they wanted. The project was re-briefed from scratch three times in as many weeks, including 48 hours before the print deadline. I was stressed out of my mind. It cost me a lot of sleepless nights and really shook my confidence for a time.”
What can you do to prevent a shit-storm from happening in the first place?
Here are a few ideas shared:
No contract = no leverage
Don’t rush in too fast; nail down the basics such as scope, roles, and who makes the calls
Red flags (run the other way):
When you hear things like “I’ll know it when I see it.”
People who aren’t on time
People who can’t spell
The key thing to remember is:
As much as you care about what you put your name on, no job is worth damaging your mental health or losing sleep over (maybe a few hours here and there).
Of course, we also have to bring our best selves to each project to keep our cool, be professional, and most of all be a good human.
✊🏽
🔗 Disaster Artist: How To Survive When A Project Gets Ugly
Motivation
Do small things with great love.
That’s it for this week’s Friday Gems.
In stillness, find your next step.✊🏽
Low Fidelity explores the inner game of creativity through mindsets, mindfulness, and personal growth, drawing on honest stories and lessons from lived experience. Inspired by a Zen approach, it invites presence, patience, and simplicity into the creative process.
Founded and led by Rizwan Javaid, Low Fidelity offers reflections and insights to help readers navigate their own creative and personal journeys with clarity, intention, and a sense of calm focus.