ITERATE, DON'T ORIGINATE || How our projects survive this complex world

Let’s say we get an idea, an innovative, one of a kind idea, it could be a landscape design, or even the theory of flight. In order to have something created it had to come from an idea first.

Now let’s go backwards, how did this idea come about? In the article “How Innovative Ideas Arise” by James Clear, he states that decision making should be, and for the most part is based on history. Clear brings forth the proposal that original thought should not exist. We are surrounded by a complex world that twist and turns around itself with thousands of processes working at once, yet, when we look at the surface everything looks harmonious & peaceful. Through all this hustle and bustle, many creations have lasted through it all. The theory of biomimicry has evolved to try to imitate outstanding acts of nature to solve human problems. These are the ideas that should be our inspiration; they are foolproof and if we want to invent something that will stand the test of time, we must build upon existing, successful ideas. Clear uses the example of aviation to put his idea into perspective. Most people assume that the theory of aviation and what it is has modernized into today is based off of two hardworking brothers. Yet so many other “aviation pioneers, like Otto Lilienthal, Samuel Langley, and Octave Chanute,” even Michelangelo, created the ideas that the Wright Brothers expanded on. Without the process of taking solid inventions and evolving them into something better we may never have become flightless humans in a big tin birds. So Clear proposes that “innovative thinkers don’t create they connect.”

So how does this relate to what we do here at Falling Waters Landscape. Well, we like to call ourselves inventors, creators of an aesthetic or of an atmosphere. Each of these different projects that we propose comes from an idea. And like Clear proposes, all of our ideas come from a system of proven ideas that have tested time and made it through the other side. We are responsible for the stewardship of our environment, but the unique perspective about our firm is that we also get to connect the user directly with their environment. So it is our job, as landscape designers to create a feeling that has been proven to enhance the user experience and the landscape around us.

FWL’s methods are simple, we balance unique interesting design with the practical usage that will prove to be an integral and necessary part of a household. We enhance our ingenuity everyday by manipulating and practicing techniques so each design we present is special and pertinent to each case. Our ideas are based off of connections we make from learning, growing, and observing the world around us, and fortunately for us we get to spread our findings with you our clients. Like any inventor we make our mistakes, our tests fails; however, these are the experiences we learn from the most, they are the stepping stones that have lead us to our success.

If you would like to learn as well from our mistakes or our successes we are releasing an insider playbook that will give you a step up in the game of landscaping. This is meant to show you the tips and tricks that we have gathered over the years and how to use them in your own projects.

To read more of James Clear’s perspective on the subject, click the link below.

https://jamesclear.com/dont-start-from-scratch

We start with a grounded idea that has been proven to stand the test of time. Click the image to find out more about our playbook prescription.