Dialogue Through Design

I'm teaching the last six weeks of a course called, Designing With Image and Time and I've asked the students to work with various films as part of their learning process. One of the options included The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. As I re-watched it, I couldn't help reflecting on the idea that these lessons could be applied anywhere, even in design. Would you agree? Watch the film and get back to me.

1. Empathize with your enemy the client/user you don't understand
2. Rationality will not save us
3. There's something beyond one's self
4. Maximize efficiency
5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war design
6. Get the data
7. Belief and seeing are often both wrong
8. Be prepared to re-examine your reasoning
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil something you didn't expect
10. Never say never
11. You can't change human nature