Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus is probably one of my favorite books of all time. Let not the naive criticism of the internet's under read fake philosopher dissuade you from reading Camus. The one who will say his work is "easy" or his philosophy is too simple. That's the whole point. He is one of those few who isn't complicating an already complex genre of human thought. The simplistic nature of Camus is what makes him one of the greats. And that idea of pushing the boulder knowing it will roll back shows up more in design and marketing than people admit.
But this isn't a Camus glazing write up, even though I can write pages on the subject, this has more to do with my work and how The Myth of Sisyphus has the ability to bring calm and nuance to two complex industries and domains — design and marketing. Few people have the privilege of designing something that they also then get to sell and that is me. I am thankful that stars aligned and offered me this reward. Most designers don't understand why a customer isn't buying their gradient color nonsense, most marketers never get to influence deeply on why a user needs 20 steps to onboarding resulting in a net loss of their paid marketing campaign.
Me? I get the entire blame of a failure and also the reward of a success. But both industries are tough. Engineers will tell you how hard their work is but anyone with analytical understanding of the world will tell you it isn't. Not in terms of hardwork but by the politics that dictate a social setting of a workplace. An engineer's job works or it doesn't. It is a 0 or 1. A marketing or a designer's job is simply carrying a boulder up a hill only to realise the peak will probably last a few seconds before the boulder starts to slide. Heck, sometimes the boulder slides midway. You can do everything “right” and still fail. You can do something questionable and still win.
This work isn't 0 or 1. Results sometimes are far away, and every step needs to carry data justification which sometimes is tough to pull out when you cater to an audience that is a mobile phone ninja or someone who can barely unlock a phone (Think a banking app). Also, you might find it tough to show up positive everyday when everyone thinks they know your job. An office is full of people who will tell you what 'works' on social media, especially people with less than 12 followers on Twitter and a private Instagram account. You can also hear how the color isn't soothing to the eyes of your boss.
This isn't a rant by any means, this is a highlight of how the work can overwhelm you if you don't know the navigation available. You have to be Sisyphus. If you expect clean feedback loops and objective truth, you’ll burn out quickly. The only way this becomes sustainable is if you accept the absurdity of it. You push anyway.
Camus’ point wasn’t that the work is meaningless. It was that meaning comes from continuing despite it.
In this line of work, you have to be comfortable with incomplete validation, delayed results and constant second-guessing. And still show up with conviction. You will have to justify your decisions and you have to be confident of your craft. If you are a person who would say yes to a team because you don't wish to offend the CEO, you are a liability to yourself and to your work. You are not marketing or designing for individuals in your org including your boss. You are doing it for the entity called your 'organisation' which is above all and a mirror output everyone working for it.