Designing Your Legacy to be Environmentally Friendly [Part 9]

This is the ninth blog in a 10-part series examining how to apply Dieter Rams’ principles of good design to your legacy.

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The ninth principle in Dieter Rams’ list of good design principles is that of environmental friendliness. From a product standpoint, this would entail stewarding natural materials and repurposing the product. But for legacy design, environmental friendliness starts by taking inventory of our resources. Our precious resources are people and time. To be environmentally friendly in this world is to be aware, respectful, and reliable.  

Awareness is the ability to anticipate the needs of others and to offer assistance only when they are able to accept it. This is not an imposition of will, but a willingness to wait for opportune times. This mindset respects the autonomy of others and accepts them as peers and collaborators. The offer for help rarely carries an expiration date with it. This allows people to grow at their own pace and in their own space. Trust develops when others can rely upon you to fulfill your offer.

As you design your legacy, remember that it will change with the stages of your life. There will be seasons when you speak often; there will be seasons when you need to engage in listening. You may see this as a reinvention of yourself and your design. I tend to think of it as seeing more facets of your design through the lens of time.

Being a parent provides a parallel experience. In the beginning, parents are caretakers and physical protectors. With time, they assume the duties of teacher, disciplinarian, and mentor. As the child touches on adulthood, the parent must take a step back to provide the child sufficient room to grow. This may involve the challenging task of allowing the child to experience discomfort and failures. The next stage is that of a confidant and friendly neighbor.  

Your legacy flourishes when you give more than you take, when your impressions do not disrupt the landscape of people’s lives, and when your memory nourishes future generations.