Pursue Elegance: Navigating Ambiguity with Grace
If we’ve learned anything in the past year it’s that we live in a complex and uncertain world. No matter how hard we try, we can’t always predict what’s going to come next. We can, however, choose to tackle tough — and all, for that matter — situations with grace. We can add good design, process and beauty to our work.
Box of Crayons creates live, virtual and digital programs for clients who are working with us to unleash the power of curiosity in their organizations. Our mission is to unleash curiosity, and it’s imperative for us to make the learning journey with clients as precise and elegant as possible. Outcomes are important, but we want to navigate the entire process with simplicity and style to ensure an impactful experience.
Did you guess what value we’re focusing on next?
PURSUE ELEGANCE
Aim for precision and simplicity. Navigate ambiguity with grace. Good design matters.
Process even over outcomes.
It comes as no surprise that our VP of Operations lives out this value. In the story below, Kimiko Mainprize shares how “Pursue Elegance” is at the core of everything she does, personally and professionally.
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I’m the kind of person who creates structure in chaotic situations. Bring on the change. Bring on the mayhem. I can handle it … mostly because I’ll build a simple and elegant way forward. It’s my MO for everything I do.
I’m also a pretty structured person. I centre everything in my life around a routine so that I can face each day with as much grace and poise as I can muster. In my opinion, this is the core of what it means to pursue elegance, and I love how we gloss it here at Box of Crayons: Get clear, be precise and navigate “messy” middles. It values the process of finding a way through something even over the end result or outcome.
I PURSUE ELEGANCE IN ALMOST EVERY PART OF MY DAY.
Starting with the way I begin: Enjoy a cup of tea, read something new, move my body (usually yoga) then get dressed and ready for the day. This process centres me so that I can show up with space for others, which is a big part of the role I play in both my professional and personal life.
When I think about this value, I break it down into two parts:
- Caring about the experiences of others is the ultimate goal in everything I do.
- Things should be clear, simple and ultimately lead to as positive or as painless an experience as possible for the person it’s intended for.
