By Nishant Kothary CHAPTER 12protagonist. I was the hero who, after much contemplation and tribulation,
was going to save this project. I had to do what I had to do, but it was for a
good cause, I reasoned.
In hindsight, the six hours I spent working on my concept didn’t hold
a candle to Dave’s entire week of hard work. Dave must have seen that
immediately when he held my design up next to his, but decided to remain
silent. Instead, he did what we often do when faced with confrontation in
the design process: he tried to salvage the situation by suggesting that he
take a crack at combining our designs. I didn’t particularly like the idea,
but didn’t quite respond with that. I avoided confrontation as well. The
neocortex had stepped in for us both, but it was a little too late. I said, “OK,
let’s give it a shot.”
We didn’t make it past two Frankenstein versions of the design. By
then, there was a tinge of undeniable awkwardness in the air, and we both
knew that the project had gone off the rails. We decided to chat on the
phone. I finally admitted, “Dave, I don’t think this is working out. No hard
feelings, but I think I’d like to take over the visual design.” But this time
Dave surprised me by pushing back. “Nishant, I think my second concept
was the best one. I even showed another designer the two designs side-by-
side, and he agreed,” he said. He shared the name of the other designer, a
well-known veteran whom I respected.
I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. In an accidental
moment of clarity, I responded, “I think I should take myself out of the
decision-making process.” Dave, shocked, agreed. We hung up. Dave had
stuck his neck out, and I respected that. But I still couldn’t see what he
could see. I could even admit that maybe my design wasn’t the right one.
But I couldn’t see how his was.
As it turns out, willing ourselves to see the world differently has some
unfortunate hard limits. And it provides the final clue to the source of our
woes.