Humility

The Trouble With Pride

In product design, self-doubt can be a significant hurdle. Even accomplished professionals often grapple with imposter syndrome — that persistent feeling of inadequacy despite evident success. This internal struggle stems from our awareness of the vast knowledge and skills our field demands, leading us to question our competence. As a result, we might hesitate to voice our ideas or take bold actions, fearing we'll expose our perceived shortcomings.

Whether real or imagined, this insecurity prevents us from taking initiative that involves reputational risk. Ironically, our attempt to manage this insecurity by taking a better-safe-than-sorry approach only compounds the problem. 

The Downward Spiral

The result is a downward spiral of insecurity and complacency, where the reluctance to take risks overtakes ambition. As we shy away from new and challenging experiences, our curiosity dwindles, creativity dries up, and confidence withers away. We find ourselves shrinking into mediocrity, caught in a cycle of apprehension, rationalization, and stagnation that takes hold the moment we allow pride to govern our decisions.

Insecurity Inhibits Initiative

Our awareness of limitations often leads to an apprehension to reveal any inadequacy. This insecurity—this imposter syndrome—destroys both our confidence and our will to take initiative if there's any reputational risk involved. Ironically, by limiting our exposure in order to reduce risk—by eliminating any friction in life—we deny ourselves the very opportunities to gather knowledge, accumulate experience, and develop genuine confidence from acquiring enlightened perspectives. We stop growing.

Complacency Inhibits Curiosity

To feel better about lacking initiative, we rationalize either the virtue or inevitability of our self-imposed limitations. We may convince ourselves that the status quo is the desired result of our hard work, or worse, adopt a victim mentality to absolve ourselves of accountability for becoming mediocre. This false sense of security suppresses curiosity, closing our minds to new ideas and weakening our ability to adapt creatively to an evolving world.

Mental Atrophy Inhibits Confidence

Once complacency takes hold and the mind is closed, we grow accustomed to the monotony of doing things a certain way. Without curiosity to challenge our assumptions or learn new things, our problem-solving knowledge becomes rote, and our methods become mechanical and unthinking. The imagination weakens, shrinking like an unused muscle. With an over-reliance on existing knowledge and lacking the curiosity or ambition to fuel discovery, creativity is all but extinguished.

The Surprising Role of Pride

At the heart of this cycle lies an unexpected source of insecurity: pride. It may seem counterintuitive—after all, isn't pride the opposite of insecurity? But unchecked pride often fuels the very cycle it seems to oppose.

Pride can manifest in two seemingly opposite but equally destructive ways:

1. As arrogance, where we mask our insecurity with bravado
2. As false modesty, where we retreat into invisibility to avoid scrutiny

In either case, pride acts as a defense mechanism; a reflex triggered by our fear of inadequacy. It's hardwired into our psyche, like other survival instincts, but it's still within our control. Just as we can choose when, what, and how to eat despite the reflex of hunger, we can learn to manage our pride.

Humility Will Set You Free

The antidote to this cycle, the key to breaking free from the grip of imposter syndrome and unchecked pride, is humility. But what does it mean to be humble in the context of design and personal growth?

Humility is not self-deprecation or meekness. In the wise words of C.S. Lewis, it's not about thinking less of yourself, but about thinking of yourself less. True humility is:

• The courage to be vulnerable on purpose
• The strength to acknowledge what we don't know
• The wisdom to see every challenge as an opportunity for growth

Embracing humility means recognizing that vulnerability can be a source of strength. It involves taking the risk to be our authentic selves, to admit when we don't have all the answers, and to remain open to learning and growth.

In the next part of our series on Humility, we'll explore practical ways to cultivate this powerful quality, and how it can transform our approach to design, collaboration, and personal growth.