Life, Step By Step

Do you wish your life was a little more like a LEGO set? Or an Ikea bookcase?

Get the perfectly-sized box for one of these Nordic products, and you’ll be greeted with exactly the pieces you need to create what you want. A carefully designed set of instructions will wordlessly guide your construction, so you’ll move quickly with minimum trouble to the end. And each piece clicks satisfyingly together, with little room for error.

Consistent, fuss-free, and perfectly designed.

Occasionally I wish that any aspect of life were that well-designed. But humans aren’t like that. We have messy edges, ad-hoc construction, irrational choices. You finish a project and come up missing three important steps. Or with extra pieces that will have no apparent function.

We’re like mismatched LEGO sets, with no instructions.

But all those rough spots? All the mess and confusion? That’s where the art happens. That’s where humanity can be found.

It’s also why data-driven, standardized education rankles so many. Educators know that the art of teaching humans has little to do with following step-by-step instructions.