Throughout my time in MIDE 300 this semester, I think creative confidence and embracing ambiguity are the 2 concepts that have resonated most with me, and I will take these concepts with me after this class.
Creative confidence was something that I had to embrace throughout the semester, especially when we worked through the Design Process. By taking each step through the process, I actually gave my creative ideas a structure and a foundation, where before I would’ve never done that. I would either just take the idea and run with it, or abandon it all together, but through creative confidence, I have given my most wild ideas a chance and actually examined if there was real potential within them. It has given me a whole new definition of what I thought creativity was and how it is achieved, and I am thankful for that new insight because it can open new doors for me in the future and keep me optimistic.
Another habit that I had to learn to embrace throughout this course was ambiguity. At first I didn’t really understand it when it came to incorporating it into our assignments, but then I realized, there really was no single correct answer and I loved this. When it came to the candlelight assignment, I felt like I completely embraced the ambiguity of the instructions and it was so cool to see how everyone else had embraced it too. The ambiguity relieved me of some anxiety because I knew it was going to be different for everyone. I really want to take this habit with me and apply it to different things in my life more. This habit also helped with continuing this course and other courses remotely. I had to embrace the uncertainties about the future of what class was going to look like, and I think I saved myself a lot of anxiety by doing that too.
One of the habits that came more naturally to me was failing forward. Throughout my whole life, I’ve never been to hard on myself if I fell short somewhere, because I just looked at it as a learning experience, and an insight that I take with me into future situations. I believe that you have to fail a few times to succeed in the end, and our failures and how we respond to them is indicative of our character.
I think I need to work on the child’s-eye habit more. Looking at something with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective is something I need to work on because often times I get into a routine and on auto-pilot and don’t recognize details as much as I should. These details could potentially provide new insights to me that can be helpful when problem solving or in other challenges in life. When we walked around campus with our “child’s eye”, I noticed a lot of beauty in our campus, and I really enjoyed this exercise because it was the first time I had really picked my head up to notice the details around me. I could maybe improve on this by sitting outside or taking walks without a phone with the intension of noticing the small things and then translate this into my summer job (sailing instructor) potentially by just taking a few extra minutes to notice details that can be improved upon.
Overall I think my innovative character has developed significantly throughout the semester. I think about markets, innovation, and design with a lot more respect to the process and hard work behind it and I am excited to develop this character more in future MIDE classes that I take!