Designing Your Legacy to be Honest [Part 6]

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

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The sixth principle in Dieter Rams’ list of good design principles is that of honesty. Good design does not manipulate or exploit the consumer with undeliverable promises. Our legacies are built on relationships. Our words and deeds act as bridges to the worlds of others. Our bridges’ value is determined by whether others can cross confidently and safely into our worlds. Honesty bridges gaps; it invites with openness and clarity. It functions as a light that illuminates. It is attuned to the needs of others, avoiding the blinding glares of self-promotion.  

In designing our bridges, we need to align function with form. As Thomas Edison said, “Vision without execution is a hallucination.” Hallucinations are the foundations of disappointment and distrust.

But before being honest with others, we must ensure that we are honest with ourselves. That detail demands daily evaluation and repair. We cannot purport to be wise when folly follows; we cannot desire to be the answer when our motives are questionable; we cannot hope to be saints without acknowledging our sins. Do we prioritize enriching others or inflating ourselves? Nefarious schemes quickly unravel, and their refuse poisons our legacies. We will no longer receive travelers on our bridge, for they know it will lead to a world mired in lies. A bridge without crossings ceases to serve its function.  

Devotion and deception both entail design. One embraces honesty as its foundation; the other disregards it fervently. We will all leave legacies. Our choice lies in whether our legacies endure as a connection to others after we are gone, or serve merely as a signpost to avoid a misbegotten road.