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Guru Paradox

These days in my never-ending quest for enlightenment in the ways of User Experience, I am encountering more and more so-called Gurus than ever before. I was recently following the PR trail of one such Guru when I came across the Guru Profiles section of the web site Guru.com. I found myself pausing for a moment to wonder if I might ever be featured on such a site. You see, I once studied under a professor in graduate school who told me, "Challis, you are Guru material!"

"Guru! Me?" I said.

"You have what it takes, the intellect, the personality, and the spirit," he replied.

He went on to tell me that if I followed his simple advice my place in the guru hall of fame was almost guaranteed. "It's simple," he said - "publish, speak, and predict". I smiled the smile of a person who is trying to be polite while looking directly into the eyes of a nut who is obviously babbling nonsense. "No really," he said, "let me explain."

His formula was more or less as follows:

Get Published

He explained that first you must publish. Get published anywhere and everywhere. Give your work away at first, but eventually work up to selling your thoughts. Of course, publishing in magazines alone isn't enough. You must write a book. It doesn't really matter what the book is about, or if it is of any substance. Just write one and promote the hell out of it. Depending on the mileage you get out of the book, you may have to write additional books every few years. However, many Gurus have been known to manage an entire career on just one. And don't worry, he added, you can simply repackage and regurgitate the same material over and over. With a good system and a good assistant it doesn't take much effort at all.

Speak Publicly Often

Establish yourself as a reputable public speaker. Create demand for your presence. Some public speakers can bring in as much as $10,000 dollars per engagement. Not bad for a couple of canned speeches. After you've given a few, you will be doing it in your sleep. You may need to update them occasionally, he added, but it's a small price to pay for success!

Make Lots of Predictions

You must predict the future. No one will believe you are really a Guru if you don't make predictions. In fact, the public is thirsty for anyone who will make predictions and lead them into the future. I eyed him with a look that said, "I don't want any part of this high-risk game!" That's when he smiled and explained that predicting the future is the easiest part of the formula. You simply make lots of predictions, well into the future. If you predict far enough out, no one will remember when you were wrong and when you were right. You can parade your vision in front of the world! You'll be their hero!

I walked away from that conversation with a dark cloud hanging over me. After a great deal of thought, it dawned on me why. I had been presented with a foolproof formula for success that required minimal effort for the return but did require that I give up something rather significant - my self respect.

I learned many things during 10 years of undergraduate and graduate studies, but that conversation was one of the biggest shapers of my career and even my life. It reminded me of the importance of giving and not just taking in life. And it made me more determined than ever to hold tight to my belief that people must be at the center of all efforts to design for the future.

As I struggle with the task of looking into the future and understanding people so that I might architect better user experiences, I am confident of a few things. There are lots of unanswered questions, lots of things to be discovered, and to be certain there is an uncertain future ahead.

I'm predicting the age of the Guru has come and gone. You'll hear about it if I'm correct.