It’s not about the bike

The design of organisations and products →Go uptown It’s not about the axe, the hat, the shirt or the face. Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Design Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

Having been thoroughly traumatised by compulsory inter-house cross-countries in his youth — best ever placing: sixth-last — the JC has always loathed races of any kind, resented those who are good at them, and revelled at any schadenfreude going should the foot-race winners of the world come a-cropper. Look, exercise is important, but it is something one should do alone, anonymously, under cover of darkness if possible, and in disguise if not.

So it is somewhat galling to be repeating Lance Armstrong’s words, but here goes:

It’s not about the bike.

You could lose another three hundred grams from your loaded frame weight with kevlar forks and graphene spokes, at a cost of a few grand, or stop eating so many pies.

You hear a similar thing in music forums across the land: “I’ve got the guitar, I’ve got the amp, the right gauge strings, the same pick, the same stompboxes — even the same hat but still I can’t get the Stevie Ray Vaughan sound. What’s the secret sauce?” Young hotdogs are chastened to hear — it doesn’t stop them, though — that the special factor in Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rig is Stevie Ray Vaughan.

It’s not about the axe. Or the hat.

So what has this got to do with legal design?

Well, automating your existing docs process is like upgrading to kevlar forks. First, cut out the pies. You could lose ten kilos and save some money, and you’ll get better value out of your existing forks. You might conclude that kevlar forks are a bit of a waste of money.