Career Wayfinding

In my career in technology, I have helped many customers create wayfinding systems—the touchscreen-enabled systems that allow people to chart where they are and where they are going as they navigate a shopping center or college campus. Wayfinding is a lot like the lifelong effort of shaping a career.

The first step is to identify where the “You Are Here” pin might be and to determine what direction might be a good next step. Unlike the touchscreen map in the shopping mall, however, one’s entire career landscape typically isn’t visible. This is because people create their careers as they go, and the total career map is only available in hindsight.  

Wayfinding your career is more like this sign (below) I saw posted at a hotel in which I recently stayed which mistakenly read "You are Her."  I liked the misspelling.  It isn't about being "here".  Wayfinding is about self-discovery.  About being "her."

As my own career extends two decades (and spans two millennia), I have been reflecting on the things I wish I better understood in the early years of my career. My article entitled "Top 5 Things I Wish I Knew in the First 5 Years of My Career" was just published with Women on Business.  Read article.

Separating Explanation and Fact

This picture was taken today of the plant in my office.  It is alive and growing.  Lots of green leaves.  Yet, it certainly doesn't look healthy. 

I tweeted today (@jenniferdavis) that it appeared to have gained consciousness and is attempting to leave the confines of the pot.  In fact, the leaves appears to be crawling along the carpet to make their escape!

But that is an explanation.  And with any explanation, it is only a theory.  Others can have other explanations.  What do you think is going on?

The only thing that is known is the fact that the plant is bent over.

It is a good thing to remember in other contexts.  Make sure that in your effort to diagnose problems, assist others, or be witty, that we don't confuse explanations with facts.

Sending the Elevator Back Down

The other night I watched the talented actor, Kevin Spacey, on David Letterman and he quoted his late friend and mentor, Jack Lemmon, who said that once you acquire a level of success in your field it is is your duty and privilege to "send the elevator back down" for others who could benefit from your mentoring or support. 

I would say that it is necessary, not only for those in the top of their fields, but everyone along the way.  Generosity is a value that is worth cultivating throughout your life.  If you want to be mentored, be a mentor.

Photo courtesy of Gideon Tsang.

Warning: Rising Consciousness Ahead

Ask yourself "What do I wish I knew about my business that I don't know?" and "What would I do with the information if I got it?"  If the answer to the second is compelling, try to figure out how to answer the first question.  This applies to other situations like career changes, volunteer work, and even family life.  Raising your consciousness is the first step to real improvements.

The Aptitude of Attitude

This was a quote from a Star Wars book which is very fitting to a number of situations that people face in life and business.  In my experience, it is best to have both: a plan and an attitude of abandon that makes the results possible.

Complexity: Friend or Foe

Seems to me there are two kinds of businesses: the first relies on reducing complexity and costs and delivering a simple proposition to customers and the second relies on charging a premium for delivering something unique, special, or otherwise differentiated.  The role of the business leader is to pick one.

And maybe Gretchen Rubin was right when she suggested there were two types of people.  The type that group people into two types and those who don't.

Revisiting Requirements

A colleague of mine said this the other day (in the context of some technical issue he was dealing with) and I thought it good advice for other areas of life as well. Sometimes you have to pick your battles and some are just not worth fighting. Other ones, are worth overcoming the impossible for.  Knowing the difference makes all the difference.

Doing the Wrong Things Well

I read a great blog post by Dan Pink a few years ago on this topic and thought it was worth remembering. This might be a good one to print out and put by your computer or where decisions are made or priorities are set. Watch against activity that feels good and right, but doesn't clearly lead to results or value that your customers perceive.

The Trap of Competitiveness

It is a frequent request from sales teams: create products that are more competitively priced or competitively featured. It sounds good and this kind of request has send product marketing and engineering teams off to create me-too products for centuries. The trouble is that is hardly ever works out as well as one would hope.

See, when you set out to make a competitive product, you have actually given up the one thing that might just be the key to your success: the ability to set the criteria for which products are judged and buying decisions are made. You have let your competition decide what is important and make you play catch up.

If you have the creativity and capability, it is much more fun (and probably more successful) to do something your competition isn't doing. Create a new product category. Solve a new problem in a new way. Sell to new customers in a new way. Go after a Blue Ocean or a Purple Cow, as the authors' suggest. Do something to set the pace and decide the rules of the game and then get your competition chasing you (or better yet, dismissing you as an outlier and you can be successful without them even noticing).

True or False: Great Minds Think Alike

There is a common phrase that is said (and I have certainly used hundreds of times myself) that upon reflection is a lie: "Great minds think alike." And its corollary: "Fools seldom differ."

The truth is that great minds are composed of all sorts of different natural styles, curiosities, backgrounds, talents, and thought processes. This, of course, leads to wonderful innovation in so many parts of our lives and industries. If we all thought (verb) alike, then our thoughts (noun) would be too similar to generate anything new or inspirational.

However, it is human nature to rate ones' own abilities above average and then to seek like-minded (both in the verb and noun) individuals to associate with. This is never more evident than in the hiring process, where so often hiring managers hire people exactly like themselves, rather than hiring those who complement their skills or abilities and will challenge them to think in new ways. Diversity of thought is just as important (and certainly harder to judge from afar) than diversity of race, religion, or lifestyle. These people who think differently than ourselves, can cause us to be better business people, better strategist, better implementers, better managers, and possibly, better people.

This is a challenge for us all. We have to forget idioms (no matter how common they might be) and a little bit of our own tendencies, in order to benefit from great minds.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Maria taught the VonTrapp kids to sing by starting at the very beginning.  "A very good place to start," she sang.

This is where I start today on this blog - announcing my intention to blog.  I have had my own public journal in the past (and I might upcycle some of the best content here over time) and I am a regular contributor at Planar's blog and the blog for the InfoComm industry organization.  

If you subscribe, you will find posts related to marketing, leadership, professional development, design, and technology.