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My neighbor Peter Hall is a senior lecturer in design at the University of Texas at Austin. He and David Shields invited me to come give a talk to a group of their seniors. I gladly accepted the offer to return to my alma mater.

This giant tent greeted me when I walked into their studio. I could hear the students laughing inside. We immediately agreed that I should present inside this work of sheets created by student Christina Moser. Her intent was to create a “space within a space” that caused an interruption but also extended an invitation to think and perhaps act differently. Being in the tent was indeed very intimate and removed all of the physical space that would have existed between myself and the class. Ironically, my intent in speaking was to create a space in which the seniors could look within themselves; absent the noise of fear and constant “am I good enough?” chatter that graduation day specializes in megaphoning in your skull. So the tent was a universal assist.

I wanted to attempt to inoculate them from the mindset that the “perfect job” would define them as successful designers and people. In the process of sharing stories I referenced a wide range of people – from my mentors, my former teachers, our newest collaborators to Steve Jobs and a few former Butler Bros interns. Sure everyone knows Steve. But you may not know that Cesar Torres, a former intern of ours, started one of the first co-working spaces in Austin. Or that Jay B Sauceda and Cody Haltom both former Butler Bros interns founded Public School. We see all of this as success. People following their hunches, their passions, their bliss, et. al. They had to do it their way. Bravo.

The work I proposed the students do borrows from Steven Tomlinson and his mentor inherited concept of “Don’t discard.” The notion that your unique skills and strong passions meet the unique needs of the universe in unique ways. I believe that. I added a dash of Tom Campbell, a decorated US Marine and  former UT management professor of mine who, after a semester of teaching us Bennis, Machiavelli and Sun Tzu, tearfully implored, on the last day of class, “Find yourself a road.” And I used the great Steve Jobs quote above for those who needed a more modern invocation. And I reminded them that a calligraphy class Jobs took at a Reed College has a lot to do with what differentiated Apple right out of the gates. Skills plus passions.

Halfway through I asked abruptly, “Are any of you buying any of this? Do you believe that your passions and your skills mashed up are what make you unique?” I could sense the nascent belief in intrinsic value stirring so I kept going. I told them about our journey as a company. I talked about letting belief in what you work on take the lead. I kept it real. There is no such thing as a perfectly executed vision but setting the bar for yourself is critical. Don’t let someone else set it for you.

I shared personal stories about how this method, if it is one, has keep our company vibrant despite the flagging economy and general sense of forbding everyone packs in their bag these days. Mostly I talked about our collaborators and how banding together on shared values trumps the idea of merely banding together around complimentary skill sets. You have to do both. But where does the primary energy go? For Butler Bros it’s in seeking people and organizations who inspire us with their missions and personal visions. It’s that simple. And they can’t be jackasses either, no matter how visionary or talented.

So, again I asked, “Tell me what you think? Is this crazy talk?” And then it happened, a student named Wu said that she loved working with wood and with her sister, even though her sister was still in high school, and that she wanted to figure out a way to do both, maybe. Maybe is good enough. Maybe is the start. One person was brave enough to show her cards in the small space of a sheet tent on the eve of graduation into the great big oyster.

Thanks for inviting me in.

Adam

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