When you make something that others use, it's easy to forget they use what you've made in the context of their full world, not just the experience you've designed.

Designers and leaders alike sometimes get lost in the process and joy of making and forget they make things that fit into the full lives of other people. We center our products and ideas in the minds of others when they do not.

This flaw of self-centering happens all the time in life as well; we assume others share the full context and weight of our problems or world views. Then we are annoyed or hurt when people do not interact or respond the way we expect.

A trait that helps creatives and leaders break out of this is flawed self-centering is the ability to look at their smallness in the world.

Smallness may seem counter to the "10x" and "always hustle" culture, but it's an indispensable skill to making that things work in harmony with the world.

When you're under the stars looking up, it's easy to remember how small we are. It creates both a sense of humbleness and urgency. Humbled because we realize that we can only change so much, and we are not the center of everything. Urgency comes when we see that while small, we have some part or thing to make, and we should make the most of it.

What power comes from seeing our smallness and the smallness of what we make?