Second Life

After reading about millenials in the workplace (http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/millennials-are-taking-over-the-workplace-is-hr-prepared/) and the use of Second Life as a recruiting tool, I had a mini-epiphany.  The big problem with my job wasn’t that I hated being a Director, it was that the fun disappeared.  You can spank my ass and call me Sally for a job title; but, if I’m having fun I’m there.  I believe that in the bigger picture of the IT landscape, the overlap between work and fun (i.e. passionate engagement) is blurring.  In fact, it HAS to blur.

In jobs that feature information as the primary entity for manipulation, it makes sense that the tools and communication channels available for working with that information follow the same radical transformation as the wider cultural landscape.  And just because I’m in my 40s doesn’t mean that I have to feel disconnected from the phenomenon. 

I recall that one of the reasons I went into computers was seeing the toll that physical labor took on my father and other people I worked with on Alaska’s oil pipeline.  I figured being a “computer guy” would age-proof my career (always assuming my brain hung in there).  And why would I want to hang in there?  Because it’s a fun, challenging job that encourages creative thinking while compensating decently.

So, as I begin my journey away from my job as a Director back to Architect, I am enjoying the re-engagement with tech feeds, geek news, and all the “fun stuff” I had left behind.  I’m no genius, or even a great programmer . . .but I am passionate, love to learn from my betters, and I’m pretty decent at aggregating all the tech activity into meaningful chunks that relate to business initatives.  And so, after many years of always trying to do whatever it is that I don’t already know, I realize that there really is something to knowing your place and playing to your strengths. 

Feels like a second life indeed.

Rediscovering the Geek Within

I recently rediscovered the geek within.  What does this entail?  First, it implies that you wander away from the inner geek.  You perhaps think management, or even directorship, is your path to freedom.

 

Then, you have an epiphany.  For me it was something like, “hey, I’m in an abusuve relationship with my company.”  You realize that upper management is the equivalent of agreeing to putting on shackles for a pay increase.  In return for breaking out of the geek pay ceiling, you agree to basically become a whipping boy or girl.  You won’t likely be empowered to drive change, but you’ll be browbeat constantly about the lack of change while your budget and your powers are diminished.

 

So, having the epiphany, you’ll realize that you can return to your passion, creativity, and having cool junk in your cube.  You CAN go home.  Just click your heels together, wish real hard, and you’ll find that companies are almost never tired of people with the actual skills to do the actual job so actual money can be made.

 

And all the while, you can have your Nunzilla on display proudly; you can tickle your Dwight Shrute bobble-head and engage in active relaxation, knowing that the work you are doing is more productive and more fun than your boss.

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