Intellectual humility made me a better designer

"Why is the sky blue?" "Why do people hiccup?"

These are some of the top questions on Google. I sometimes wonder if I've solely boosted the hierarchy of some of these results myself.

I am constantly Googling things. On the bus, in bed, in the bathroom. Everywhere. I don't think people realize how amazing it is that we get to live in a world where the answer to almost any question is at our fingertips.

As a kid, I would bombard my mom with questions about everything. "But why?" or "what is this?" were probably my most uttered words. As I grew older, the responses were more and more frequently "I don't know". Once I discovered the glory of the internet, I stopped asking people, and started asking the internet. Suddenly, my curious mind had all the resources it needed. Ah yes, the beauty of collective intelligence.

Almost everyone has had that moment where they've pretended they knew about a subject that someone was talking about. Maybe they were too afraid to speak up and ask a question for fear of seeming less intelligent. I used to be that person.

After leaning into my curious nature, I stopped pretending I know that actor you're talking about, or that word you just used that I have no idea how to even spell. I've taken some notes from my younger self— I'm not afraid to ask questions. That unabashed, purely thirsty-for-knowledge Cynthia has been back for a while, and is definitely here to stay.

The benefits of intellectual humility? Besides not lying and being in an awkward situation, increasing intellectual humility can increase your willingness to learn, and to be less biased and more open-minded towards the opposing view during disagreements. I think this translates directly into making people better designers. Here's why:

1. You're better at receiving and giving feedback

I LIVE for critique. It makes my heart sing.

There is a difference between defending your ideas and design choices (important!) and simply defending your ego. Design isn't like art, where it's simply about expressing one's own emotions. Design needs to solve a problem. The only way to do this is to ask questions, learn from different viewpoints, and have empathy. Getting feedback from designers and non-designers, as well as user testing, is what will separate a good design from a bad design. And with that...

2. You become more comfortable with killing your darlings

When receiving feedback, there can be instances where your design doesn't solve the problem at all. If you're open to listening to this feedback, you can either work towards creating something that does, or accept different design choices that would create a solution.

It's easy to become attached to your designs when you've worked so long on one thing. But we're not designing for ourselves; we are designing for others. If our design doesn't work, we have to learn to let go. Kill your darlings. It's for the better.

3. It makes you a better team player

Working in a team requires trust. Many times, people are too afraid to delegate tasks to others, because they think no one else could do it better than themselves.

By showing intellectual humility, you come to terms with the idea that you may not know how to do everything. You become open to the idea that maybe someone has a better idea or way of doing something than you. Thus, you can put your trust in someone else. Not only is this a way to win against your ego, but it can also be the difference between a successful company and a defunct one. Trust even "increases speed and thus lowers costs in businesses", as read in "The Speed of Trust" by Stephen Covey. The more people trust in one another, the faster things can get done.

Overall...

I take pride in having a thirst for knowledge. It makes me a better designer, gives me cool "fun facts" to drop on people, and contributes to a growth mindset. I could go on and on about the benefits it brings. To sum it up, don't be afraid to not know things, and stay curious.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go read a Wikipedia article on Mary Toft. If you don't know who that is, you should definitely go Google* it.

*Post not sponsored by Google.