Advice, clarifying or confusing?

Lately, I have been doing a lot of research into what it takes to be successful in the design community. I have had some fantastic conversations with some terrifically knowledgeable people and have learnt a lot in the process. The advice I have gotten has been varied but has allowed me to drill-down on how I am going to approach my own design journey over the next five years. I know what areas I need to upskill in, I know who I should be having conversations with, and I know I should be marketing myself as a designer to potential employers. This is all positive stuff, and in terms of direction it is clear WHAT I should be doing. However, for me, the uncertainty starts to rear its head when I ask myself HOW. HOW am I going to do the things that I know I need to do? Paradoxically, the path is both clear and uncertain.

This, in turn, got me thinking about the nature of advice. I’m often quick to offer advice to people when they ask (or even when they don’t). I saw this act as a sort of benevolent ‘guiding hand’ helping people get to where they wanted to go. But in offering advice and providing no practical micro level ‘HOWs’ was I solving their problems or just adding to their confusion?

“Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Although firmly supplanted in neo-liberal rhetoric, the above quote does proffer some solid wisdom. If you teach someone HOW TO DO then you have given them the tools they need. For me, I think that this is what separates genuinely good advice from advice in general.

“You should learn to code; it is a useful skill”.

vs

“You should learn to code; it is a useful skill. For me, I started with an online course and committed to learning one module per week. This built up my knowledge and over time taught me….”

Both are ostensibly the same, yet one tells you both WHAT and HOW, which is where the true value in advice lies.

I could take a deep dive into this subject matter, but in the interests of making my point will end on this note. Advice is valuable and it is something you should seek out, yet be careful in taking all advice at face value.

ps.

Don’t be afraid to ask follow up questions when receiving advice. If the HOW can’t be clarified by the person offering it then you know where you stand.