One day I became aware of the TED talk by Simone Giertz (link). She told her story about the Shitty Robots. My idea was immediately: "This approach could be applied to other topics as well". From this initial idea I developed over time the story of the Shitty Models as a generalization.
But why should we do apparently useless things at all? Very simple: To fail! To use failure, so to speak, as a strategy to learn new things. Many of today's systems and technologies seem so complex that we sometimes shy away from dealing with them at all.
Why can't we also have...
- Shitty Artificial Intelligence,
- Shitty Data Science,
- Shitty Programming,
- Shitty 3D Printing,
- Shitty Internet of Things,
- Shitty Blockchains?
(Just to name a few apparently complex technologies)
You can probably think of even more technologies from your own context. So I suggest we talk about Shitty Models. Why models? Because we abstract and approximate the complexity of the world through a simplified model of reality. For a Shitty Blockchain, for example, we do not aim for a finished product that we can sell. It's just about understanding the principles and learning from them. A simplified blockchain based on various assumptions is therefore sufficient.
Besides learning new technologies, the Shitty Models approach can also be used to develop new ideas and approaches. In the spirit of Design Thinking and Maker Spaces, creativity can be encouraged. According to Mark Twain, "A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
In the summer of 2018 I conducted a workshop with some former colleagues. We tried to develop a method for the Shitty Models idea. Many thanks to Nina Schiffeler, Sebastian Zachow, and Laura Platte for attending and your creativity.
By the end of the workshop we had developed the following six-step process about how to embed Shitty Models e.g. into a university course:
- Framing
- Preparation
- Kick-off
- Shitty Model
- Presentation
- Feedback
Let me briefly explain the individual process steps:
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Framing In this first step a context should be established. Why do we work with Shitty Models now? What is the intention behind it? What are the learning objectives? How is the method integrated into the course?
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Kick-off At this point the group can learn about the background, for example the Shitty Robots. It also seems helpful to give a short talk on the topic "Culture of Failure" and how failure can move us forward.
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Preparation Next, the group can be familiarized with the available materials. If there are rules for group work, they can also be applied in this step as well. Obviously, it is important to ensure that the rules encourage rather than hinder creativity, experimentation and exploration.
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Shitty Model Now the participants may build or program their Shitty Model. This step can and should take up a large part of the available time.
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Presentation After the models have been developed, the groups or individual participants should present what they have achieved. This can be either an entertaining show or a conventional presentation. The portfolio might be presented, i.e. the different variants that may have been created.
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Feedback Finally, the learning objectives should be reflected upon so that the participants become aware of their own learning process. There is no kind of correction or direct assessment of Shitty Models: There is no right or wrong characteristic for these models. This last step is also a good place to start the exchange: What were best practices? What were the lessons learned?
I believe that Shitty Models can make a social contribution. People should dare to try things out again. We as a society might benefit from this.
This post has a DOI, so you can cite it very easily. For example like this:
Sommer, Thorsten (2020): Shitty Models. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3601219
You can also cite the process we worked out in the workshop:
Sommer, Thorsten; Schiffeler, Nina; Zachow, Sebastian; Platte, Laura (2020): Shitty Models. protocols.io. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.ba4gigtw