You understand the instructions only after you've assembled the red wagon. MG Taylor Axiom, 1983

Matt and I had a lot of fun developing our axioms.  We lived in Nederland, above Boulder, CO and we were teaching workshops on life planning.   Our participants were smart, into alternative life styles and from all economic sectors. They were teachers, entrepreneurs, government leaders, inventors, scientists and artists.  Ages ranged from 15 to 70. Yet, with each there were so many unquestioned assumptions about how life was meant to be.   As we rode to and from our four-day workshop ... back and forth from Nederland to Boulder... we drove through a number of ecosystems, up and down through winding hills and valleys. We would muse on our work and how the participants were so intrigued with our way of teaching. We came to realize:  1) how hungry people were for rich alternatives and new ways of thinking and doing; and 2) how foreign our way of thinking was to most of the participants.  Many of our ideas had not been explored before.  Thus, we decided that the best way to present our ideas was through a set of design axioms.  As we drove, the axioms began to spill forth, prompted I think, by what was occurring in our workshops ...

One of my favorite is "You understand the instructions only after you've assembled the red wagon."  Experts are taught to know the answer up front so this axiom was clearly out of scope for them. 

Today I listened to an interview with Miranda July about her book of short stories, No one belongs here more than you.  I was spell bound by her philosophy and her writing. Her website is titled: Obviously, you know what I am talking about.  Originally, the title gave her confidence and made her feel comfortable with her ideas. Then, she noted, as she performed or spoke to audiences that hundreds of heads were nodding in agreement with her stories.  Her words were indeed, obvious... familiar and captivating.