I’ve had a number of conversations recently in which I became acutely aware that my deeply held beliefs about design, leadership, quality — really anything else in life that I value — were strongly anchored in beliefs so firmly ingrained in my thinking and feeling as to function in an axiomatic function. This is very much a “no duh” realization, since it’s not like I’ve never had those thoughts before. But in light of this recently launched blog, I realized that I needed to create a new place to record and discuss these heartfelt and strongly held axioms and their impact on other important issues.

Ultimately these axioms form patterns (axiomatic patterns? idiomatic patterns?) that are essential or foundational to the higher level patterns of excellence (like well-functioning teams, excellent design, and quality of whatever form). Having said that, I’m also aware of the risk of digressing to platitudes in the name of principle. You know, “Work smarter, not harder!” Or, “Think outside the box!” What in the heck do these things mean?! Do they actually capture something fundamental and axiomatic, or are they just smoke screens for deeper thinking? Perhaps I need to launch the anti-axiom forum as well and call it “Platitudes.” Hmmm… Not a bad idea… 🙂

In any case, at this point I’m not trying to overanalyze the impact of these axioms, but just let the ideas flow and be captured. It may provide a resource in the future for deeper analysis. And of course, a counterpoint to the impending “Platitudes” forum…