Why the UX Book Club is good for your Soul

attimo_fuggente

I really can’t tell you how book clubs managed to survived in the era of the internet tsunami and remote online relationships, but I can assure you they are really far from dying. They are alive and kicking.

If you believe a book club is something that suits only your grandma, you are wrong.

If I say the words “book club” the first thing that probably comes up in your mind should be a “noisy circle of middle aged women, drinking tea and reading out loud verses and poems”.

The reality is not that far: there are still a circle, the booze and the monthly book to read, but things have just evolved into something new, fresh and exceptionally powerful for your career.

Bookclubs turn out to be an invaluable professional tool: in a world where anybody can claim to be or claim to do whatever they want, how do you manage to withstand a fair and honest discussion with peers and professional colleagues without the curtain of fake courtesy typical of formal events and conferences?

You have to sport a fairly complex mix of ingredients:

  • Time
  • People
  • A Place to stay
  • Technical Competences
  • Professional Skills
  • Dialect and Communication skills
  • Charisma and Empathy

The beautiful features of a book club is that the book is not only just an excuse to gather people together with a same common interest, it is, in the reality, the kick you need to push yourself into finding time to keep yourself growing in the field.

People and users as well, make strategies to overcome their obstacles, a book club is an unique chance to explain yours and learn others in different scenarios, from dealing with clients to the many ways to fine-tuning your internal workflows.

Each professional has his strength and weakness, even tho you are a freshman and it may seems scary at first, never miss a chance of a confrontation!

“You’re not the devil. You’re practice.” — Bruce Wayne

Go out and look for a UX Book Club!

If you live in Italy, check the official UX Book Clubs website: uxbookclub.it, you’ll find me in the Emilia Romagna UX Book Club.

If you are living anywhere else, I’m sure that you’ll find one close to you.

Take a leap of faith and try.

Afterthoughts

What happens if the “girls are mean to you”?

Here a small consideration about the learning experience among peers.

In the last days, I saw the recrudescence of this motivational image all around LinkedIn and other socials with a cr*pload of likes:

Sorry sir, if you like this probably you are not the smartest at all… If you *believe* you are the smartest guy in a room, you are an a**hole.

  • You failed into teaching others
  • You failed into understanding others
  • You failed into measuring yourself
  • You probably are a freeloader
  • You don’t know the definition of “smart” very well

There are many, MANY, reason to “change the room” but, IMHO, being the smartest, is not the right one, at least for me.

Jump into another pond if you want to learn,if you want opportunities! It is way to easy to blame others for your failures, you can’t compare people with an unmeasurable metric like “smartness”.

To be smart and to be skilled are quite a different thing, and a good professional should have both characteristics carefully dosed.

How comes that the exact rephrase doesn’t sound so appealing?

BE the dumbest guy in a room. It’s the right place for you!

Because, It is not.

Hoang Huynh on FacebookHoang Huynh on LinkedinHoang Huynh on Twitter
Hoang Huynh
Experience Strategist at PRSD
I'm an ill fated romantic technonerd with a passion for anything that makes lights and sounds, I live in the future and I have a very clear point of view on the definition of “experience” , “design” and “innovation”, but I use to talk about it only during coffee breaks.
I often lose myself into infinite activities where I can live, work, teach, learn on how people interact with the future.
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *