Canny and uncanny people

Something quite compelling in this statement, when reflecting on the ups and downs of pursuing a large, lonely research project:

"Canny people tend to succeed in their own lifetimes; uncanny people tend to be recognized and appreciated only centuries later, because during their time their actions appeared to be either insane or pointless."

From "The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world" by C. F. Kurtz and D. J. Snowden, IBM Systems Journal, Vol 42, No 3, 2003

One can reassure oneself, during the downs -- the times when one indeed feels that one's efforts are both insane and pointless -- with the idea that one is, in fact, uncanny. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Human Technology journal article now live

In the Special Issue on Creativity and Rationale in Software Design
John M. Carroll, Guest Editor


Our article is: The Practice Level in Participatory Design Rationale: Studying Practitioner Moves and Choices

Albert M. Selvin, Simon J. Buckingham Shum and Mark Aakhus