Dave Evans: Stop Pondering, Start Prototyping

In prototypes, we ask interesting questions, we expose our assumptions, we involve others with their ideas, which begins to actually create collaboration. And most importantly, in life design, we sneak up on the future. That thing you're wondering, maybe I'd like to try this. Somebody is living the life you're imagining already. And by prototyping it, you get into a time machine and go find people who are already in a future today that you're thinking about tomorrow. Good prototyping is cheap, fast, and teaches us something. It's really about cheap and fast. The cheaper, the faster the better, as long as we learn something now in life. How do you. It's not foam core and glue guns when you're doing life design. So life design prototypes are in two very simple forms, a conversation or an experience. Talk to people, do stuff. So the prototype conversation, which we call the life design interview, is essentially the same thing as an informational interview. Who's heard the term informational interview or done those kind of things where you're asking for the story, not the job? The prototype conversation is a very simple thing to do. It turns out, gee, what's it really like to be a DJ on a web channel as opposed to on a traditional radio station? What's it really like to be involved in the private space transport industry? What's it really like to be involved in nanotechnology? What's. What's it really like to be working on an organic farm in Siberia? You know, you can go talk to people to have that conversation. And the reason it's an interesting conversation is because you and they. That person you want to talk to have a very, very common base of experience and awareness and values. She thinks her life is really interesting. You think her life is really interesting. You have the same point of view. You should get to go. You know, it's really simple. It's like, I've done the research. You're the most interesting person in the world. You think so, too? Let's get together and share that interest. Just tell me your story. And like, prototype experiences means actually trying stuff on. So keeping in mind that because some things you got to experience, like with that woman who's a real. Made out of about four different real people, you know, she had lots of conversations with people who knew things, you know, about writing a book or about working on the nonprofit world, doing, do I really want to go back to grad school or not? Boy, I haven't been in school in a long, long time. We said, look, go experience. Just sit in on a class, start working on A paper. See whether or not the young students treat you like a leper or they think it's cool that you came back, which she was really worried about. So just go do it. I mean, literally four or five hours of your life invested over a week's time is a piece of cake. Now, keeping in mind all those experiences, those prototypes of conversations and experiences come from collaborating with other people. They're pretty much done with other people, which means to find the opportunity for interviews and those activities, you have to have idea number four, which is, it's time to network. Okay, I noticed there are not many MBAs in the room, so this is probably like. Oh, a lot of you are saying, finally, the networking section of the talk. I'm so glad we're going to talk about networking is my favorite thing. I love networking. So who are those people? The network. I got one. I got two. Okay. God bless you. Most of you probably kind of feel more like this young woman. It's not really my thing. I don't really like this. Networking is kind of slimy, kind of sleazy. Who would say that? This is not really what I do. Yeah, okay. No, that's wrong. We need a reframe. We need a big reframe on this because all you're doing is asking for directions. Have any of you ever given someone directions? Who's ever given anybody directions who's done it more than once? Whoa, that's interesting. So. So you'll like it like three times. Three times. Whoa. You guys are repeat direction givers. Okay, this obsessive behavior. Now I understand. The reason we don't like networking is because it's sleazy and you're using people. This is why most often you're using people for self interest. The usual asking for directional help experience kind of goes like this. So I'm walking down the campus and somebody says, oh, could you help me? I'm trying to find the Huang center. Oh, do you know where it is now? At that moment in time, I go, well, I can go like, hey, who are you? I am a busy person. Get a map. Try a phone. Come on. We don't usually do that. We kind of go, oh, I'm so glad to help you. And then they ask for the information. What do we do? We just tell them we take this hard earned geographical information system and we just dump it on them free. And what do they do? They go, oh, great. And then they leave. They just leave. Get a bottle of wine, Christmas list card. I mean, five bucks. Anything? Nothing. You got nothing. They turn, they leave. You got used. You got totally used and you liked it. You did it again and again and again. That's diagnosable? No, it's actually. It's diagnosably human. The research demonstrates people like being helpful. When you're lost in nanotechnologyville and don't know your way around, the locals will help you. When you've never been in Author Town, you've never been in high end PhD research consulting city, the locals will help you out. They love their town, they think it's interesting, they understand your loss. That's the way the human community actually works. So it's really about just asking for directions.