Big Little ThingsThis ain’t no classroom. This work ain’t homework.
Ok, so we just learned something that might help young freelancers and the people who hire them:
Design students are used to thinking of their assignments as homework. Homework is something you do on your own. And asking for the teacher’s help is not really the way the game is played—it’s seen as a sign of weakness. Beyond that, success is measured differently, and failure is sort of acceptable, even welcome as part of the process. If a student does a crappy job, the teacher awards the student a crappy grade, and that’s how things are supposed to work. Everyone walks away feeling like things turned out the way they should have.
Unfortunately, young designers often keep that mentality for a long time, even after they’ve left the classroom.
Here’s what I wish I would have said to the young freelancer we just hired:
“This isn’t homework. This isn’t a test. By giving you this assignment, I am entrusting you to manage two of my precious resources—time and money. I need you to be responsible about that. If you find that you are stumbling, that you are spending my time and money and nothing is happening, I need you to alert me, so that I can help. If you are able to see your weaknesses and ask for help, everything will be fine and I will respect you and most likely reward you. I am not interested in giving you an F for crappy work. If you show up at deadline with nothing useful, I’m fucked. And giving you a scolding is not going to help me.
The difference is that design teachers don’t really care if you get an F. But if you fail at a work assignment, it hurts my business.”
