Ignorance and Creative Design with Alan Gregerman

I used to have a Zen proverb a day calendar, the ones where each day you tear off a new sheet that has another saying that was meant to make you contemplate, get in touch, consider, explore, think. My years always started off well, but by about June I was just ripping pages off trying to catch up to the day I was supposed to be on. I honestly think I got more mileage out of my Dad Joke a Day calendar that ended up replacing the Zen one in an ensuing year. But then again maybe there is something Zen about Dad Jokes.

One Zen proverb that stuck with me was, “Our eyes were originally right but went wrong because of teachers.” I have to admit that one stung a bit. Speaking on behalf of all educators, we all want to think that we are positively contributing to how our students see the world. But do we? There is the danger of formal education introducing “fixed thinking” or singular ways of conceptualizing the world around us. Students are taught what we been taught and know. Problem is, what we know might only be one dimension of how to view things.

To bring in another saying, “If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.” Thinking of “hammer” instructs  how the object is to be used. But if you have no idea what a hammer was, then you could envision many different uses for it. Sometimes not knowing is the key to progress.

Now it is true from a design perspective that the way a hammer is built can instruct on how it should be used. There is something that looks like a handle. The heavy end has a flat surface which can infer pounding. But creative and unconstrained thinking can see so many ways to use this object.

To throw in another saying, Ignorance is bliss, and from that we might also say paradigms can obscure. Thomas Kuhn in his book “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” examines how established paradigms can stymie progress and advancing knowledge because they limit our ability to what is in front of us. Thus, part of the advancement of science and our understanding is shedding off what teachers have taught us to be true. Rather than just teaching paradigms and how things are, teachers need to do more teaching on how to retain a beginner’s mind and connect that with envision what is possible, and not just what is believed to be known. 

Alan Gregerman is here on Experience by Design to talk about his new book coming out on October 14th  “The Wisdom of Ignorance,” in which he examines what we can gain by letting go of what we think we know.  Alan is trained as an Urban Geographer, as he was long interested in exploring cities of the world. While a student at Northwestern, he worked under the tutelage of John McKnight, one of the founders of the Assets-Based Community Development Institute, and I will add a person I also knew and took a workshop from on the ABCD approach. McKnight’s work continues to influence Alan, as well as me. 

We talk about his work in helping companies be creative through exploring urban environments in undirected ways. He describes how new employees are a very valuable resource because of how they bring new eyes to organizations. He notes that half of all the companies on the Fortune 500 list 25 years ago don’t exist today, and how that is in part linked to their belief in old paradigms. 

Alan emphasizes the importance of having teams of diverse perspectives and experiences in order to help see things differently. Also in keeping with assets-based community development, everyone has a gift that they can contribute. 

Alan Gregerman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-gregerman-a33b236/

Alan Gregerman: https://alangregerman.com

The Wisdom of Ignorance: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Ignorance-Knowing-Innovation-Uncertain/dp/B0FJJSXVGV