What is the Innovative Structure for Cooperation Today? (Still Updating)

On Saturday, I was working on a painting while listening to speeches and interviews of David Kelley, the co-founder of IDEO. It was a mindful process; I heard him explore the story of working with Steve Jobs and inventing the mouse, how he stressed the importance of making the object. I suddenly found myself reflecting on the current structure of cooperation.

I have long considered myself as a creative person. I have started two companies and switched my major study focus three times in my life to fulfill my creative needs. Yet, there have been a few glimpses of instances in my life when the wellspring of creativity ran dry. I even started to question my ability in the practice of what Bandura would call loss of self-efficacy, or in David Kelly’s words, fear of judgment, or, in my own terms, the temporary disappearance of my sense of self. I lost it—the ability to think, reflect, and design aesthetically pleasing timeless pieces that I usually find easy to approach. All I was left with were those over-complicated flashy designs you would toss on the side when the trend fades or a run-of-the-mill design just to complete a job.

I wasn't excited about design because I was pushed to become like a person on the production line. Your hands move much faster than your brain. In fact, there wouldn’t even be much brain involved. The most scary thing is the longer these feelings stuck with me, the more anxious I became.

It took me a while to realize that just removing yourself from negative discussions about the difficulties of your current life or anything negatively affecting your performance can make a significant difference. I'm not saying criticism is bad or unhealthy; constructive criticism can help you improve. Good comments are typically things you might not realize, and you should be grateful when people generously help you identify them to make yourself better.

Returning to the topic of corporate life, I realized I couldn't just stay in an office filled with errands, meetings, and work. I had to immerse myself in contests and expose myself to knowledge. No one can know everything; as creative workers, you have to constantly feed your mind, much like the process of making stinky tofu that many love and hate at the same time but can never put down. This fermentation process requires you to add food to the fermenting water, the “laolu”, and this fermented water is added to the plain canvas of white tofu, creating unbelievable layers of flavors.

Much of my recent work is related to state control and the authority's power. I'm not suggesting we destroy the freedom we live in now, but rather, bring changes at a fundamental level. I believe the future structure of creative companies should be shaped differently.

Before I gave up neuroscience, physics, and many other fields, I liked to pursue art and design; many people would ask whether I was crazy or destined to be poor for my whole life. They didn't say the exact same word, but they all asked, “why?”

You might think I wasn't good at those things or just wasn’t interested. No, in fact, I started to do research in my freshman year and always reached out for opportunities. I once helped a Ph.D. student in my lab with her paper and clarified essays she even felt confused about. In the end, she offered to write me a recommendation letter in the future. It was definitely a small achievement compared to many talented individuals in the field, but at least, I have strong interest in the field. Do I still read and keep learning things in that field? Of course, you don't just give up things 100%; you integrate your work with them. Art and design, in a way, seem to be the perfect curriculum to allow you to explore different kind of contents.

I think many creative disciplines today focus too much in training the skills or mindset, and leaving little time for learning anything else. Some might say, for scientific research it is important to learn those skills and have a solid foundation in your own field of knowledge. Here, I'm mainly refering to tradiational creative professionals, those whose work centers on innovation. It's not that there's no innovation in medicine or a hospital; in fact, they use some of the most advanced technology. However, physicians primarily focus on their practice and problem-solving rather than innovating entirely new things every day.

I have never attended a pure art school; in fact, I rejected the idea of it. I was afraid of centering my world around an industry or people who solely focus on skills and work-related ideas. Often, in such environments, you lose connection with the real world, and your designs become either sterile and focused only on aesthetics, based solely on your personal life, or you need outside experiences or hobbies to bring new perspectives. These experiences often remain superficial, looking attractive but lacking depth. I am glad to see art schools are taking actions to address this issue today, and this is also the point I want to make abuot the future of cooperation.

I believe future companies should be designed to be like schools, places where people can learn, grow, and foster creative thinking. I might need to explore examples outside the modern organizational structure, something not yet industrialized to fit time and motion, profit, and production.

Many companies today are caught up in the profit war, resulting in much waste, excess production, or even the fear of failure due to not wanting to lose the game. This leads to work being rushed and maybe only 60% complete. But as long as the price is competitive, there is still a market. Alternatively, companies could use simpler manufacturing methods, allowing consumers to choose cheaper raw materials and so forth.

Some argue that mass production saves resources in product development. In reality, the manufacturing process causes a great deal of waste, and poorly designed products can result in significant losses.

I used to admire Apple because they seemed to more responsible in releasing new products. They used to seem that they did not care about falling behind for a bit in terms of profit. They wouldn’t continuously produce products with minor improvements. It was not the case in recent years even this fall.

When I saw the release of Apple Vision Pro at the beginning of this year, I was quite relieved. The user interaction in this very product is what I consider complete. Well, there are some twists they can still add and some boundaries they can still push to make the form even simpler. They might need more of that tedious professor in college who is very serious and may have a bad reputation but possesses a brilliant mind and is never hesitant to recognize those who are good at their jobs.

Companies should be more like schools, especially in the early years when people are not yet thinking about office politics or getting into better graduate schools. It should be a place where profits are less concerned (which means the employee is less anxious about their salary), and people work together toward a grand goal. It should provide the soil for people to grow, learn, and self-motivate to do more things, bring their talents into different areas, and collectively create something even more exciting.

The focus should be on working together toward the future rather than promoting individual achievements.