Innovation's Quiet Side

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'" 

― Isaac Asimov

Prolific American author and

biochemistry professor

Socks

First of all, please allow me to begin with a caveat. The following is what you might call a "First World problem;" a ridiculously inconsequential, minuscule dilemma that pales in comparison to the infinite global quandaries out there.

And now that we've cleared that up...

I shall recount my brief interlude with laundry yesterday.

As I made my way through a heaping basket of clean clothes, I found myself swearing incoherently, muttering something to the effect of "Oh, these stupid *$%^# socks!"

I really don't like it when, as I'm reaching the bottom of the laundry basket, I come to the socks. There are never, and I repeat, NEVER, 100% perfect matches. Anywhere between 75-80% is a good day. And that's so annoying, because it a) begs the question, "Where in God's creation could they possibly have gone?!!" and b) means I'll have to put the stragglers in The Heap, a pathetic basket near our bedroom door filled with unmatched socks. These guys gather dust while their partners are out there having fun, heaven knows where.

(Because if I knew, by God, they would be matched up in someone's sock drawer.)

And I hate throwing the stragglers away, because there's always that shred of hope that someday their little sock buddy might return.

(But let's be brutally honest here. They NEVER do.)

The Heap: what a sorry lot these guys are.

However, as much as I hate pairing up socks- or, rather, not pairing them up- I know it's part of the job of being a parent. As is making sure certain individuals eat nutritious food they don't want to eat and complete homework they don't want to complete; both of which are equally trying duties some days. But, you know, so goes the job of parenthood. Par for the course, as they say.

Likewise, there are always dreaded tasks that every career professional faces, no matter how perfect his or her career fit.  Just replace "#@$#^ socks!" with "#@$#% spreadsheets" or whatever your pet grievance happens to be, and you get the picture. However, the difference between a dreaded task that sucks the life out of you and the dreaded task that is a mere hurdle is this: knowing it's worth it.

I wouldn't give up being a parent for anything, no matter how flagrantly the children- or socks- are misbehaving. Nor do I have plans to abandon working for myself, especially in the field of helping people find their ideal career.  I enjoy what I do and know that, overall, it's a really great fit for me, to the point that I wouldn't let certain undesirable tasks determine my entire career fate.

Conversely, if you know you're on a floundering career path, even the slightest annoyances can send you into a tailspin of dread and frustration.  That's because you don't know if those dreaded duties are ever going to end, and if they're not, you'll wonder if you'll end up miserable forever.

Paying Your Dues or Just Paying Your Rent? 

There's a huge difference between paying the hard dues necessary to get you to a desired destination and doing grunt work for no other reason than to kill time until you figure out what you really want.

(And when will that be if you don't seek help?)

Knowing where you want to be going makes a difficult job (or boss, or co-worker) bearable, especially if you know that it's a temporary stepping stone to your desired destination. It's the ultimate deal breaker as far as sustainability is concerned, giving you the necessary endurance to realize your ultimate potential.

So the question isn't whether you have to perform tasks you dislike. Because the answer is an obvious, "yes;" everyone has those tasks they'd give up in a heartbeat. Rather, the question to ask yourself is this: Do you know where you really want to go? If so, are the drudgeries worth it? Whether your days involve extreme boredom or job duties incongruent with your talents, are they par for the course or a chronic waste of your time and talents?

If the answer is, "It's definitely worth it!" (or even "I have every reason to believe so,") then I urge you to stick with it. We've all read stories about people who were so close to giving up their dream paths just before making incredible career strides. In fact, I've known people who were at their wits end, ready to throw in the towel, just before winning a title role in a Broadway show.

On the other side, if you don't know which direction to pursue or you seriously doubt the path you're on will end up in a place of fulfillment, I urge you to seek assistance. Hire a career coach, get clarity, and begin the process of rediscovering what you enjoy doing- and need to be doing. You'll be very happy you did.

And so will your socks.  All $%#$@ seven of them.

Chalk It Up to Inspiration

DANGERDUST

Take a look at these marvelously inspiring chalk drawings. I don't think I'd be able to erase them every week after all of that hard work, but the artists at Columbus College of Art and Design manage to somehow.

Enjoy!

-Katie

Making a Difference: Is LinkedIn Making It Easier?

I was excited to see LinkedIn's newest venture into the volunteer world, connecting non-profits with interested volunteers. Using a crisp, clean interface, their latest development is aptly called LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace.

But why, might you ask, am I touting a volunteer-matching service when I am a career- not volunteer- coach? 

Because volunteering applies to just about everyone.

Donating one's time to a favorite cause offers so many rewards, beyond the good feelings that serving others brings. Here are three great reasons to go pro bono:

1. Volunteering allows you to test out a career to see if it's something that might be worth vying for professionally. 

While volunteering certainly requires commitment, it doesn't necessarily take as much time as would a paid position, and allows a person to sample "days in the life of" said career without jumping in full-time. And you can see if you have the necessary aptitudes to make a difference in that particular way.

Bonus: Like to save money? 

Maybe that graduate degree in Social Work you've been considering isn't what you need after all. Or the $5K, 100 hour certification turns out to be far less important than a certain kind of experience. Both insights exemplify the kinds of information to be gleaned through volunteering.

2. Volunteering gives you a chance to meet people who care about the same cause you do. 

Finally, you get to talk to someone who understands your passion for childhood nutrition! The environment! The tragic plight of the common backyard mosquito dying needlessly from monstrous bug zappers!

(Hey, I don't judge a person's passions.)

You'll gain access to insider information, such as what kinds of people seem to thrive in that particular environment. You may also uncover how positions are filled within that slice of the non-profit world.  

Bonus: New to a community and want to meet someone who you connect with? 

Maybe as a friend... or perhaps you have romantic ambitions? 

Volunteering is a wonderful opportunity to increase time with like-minded individuals who share that particular passion of yours. 

"Follow your passion and find passion!"  

Hmmm... maybe I'm on to something here....

3. For the working professional, volunteering broadens your life experience.

And it allows you to keep growing, learning and innovating. In fact, countless studies have shown the positive effects of letting your mind take occasional breaks from problem solving at work. Creative breakthroughs tend to occur when, after continuously chipping away at a problem, an employee shifts gears to focus on something other than work.

Likewise, volunteering in say, a soup kitchen, can help get you "out of your head" and into using your hands. Then you can go back refreshed, with a new perspective on your problems. 

Bonus: Crave variety? 

Just as a significant other can only satisfy so many needs and fill so many roles in your life, so it goes with one's career as well. 

Even those who find an exciting, sustainable and intellectually fulfilling career path will always have other causes that they care about and towards which they want (and need) to contribute. 

And in giving ones talents outside paid work, a person can fulfill other roles that they enjoy playing in life. It takes the pressure off of feeling as if your paid work needs to be your end all, raison d'etre.

Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of Linkedin, describes the benefits of the LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace to working professionals this way:

"... while busy professionals who love their current gigs may not necessarily be looking for a new position, these are often the very people who are most actively engaged in “meaningful searches” – a volunteer opportunity that will enhance their life in ways beyond what their primary vocation provides."

Read more on Hoffman's introduction to volunteering via LinkedIn here.

Go on, check it out!.

Create Yourself: Tom Waits

“My kids are starting to notice I'm a little different from the other dads. 

'Why don't you have a regular job like everyone else?' they asked me the other day. 

I told them this story: 

In the forest, there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. Every day, the straight tree would say to the crooked tree, 'Look at me...I'm tall, and I'm straight, and I'm handsome. Look at you...you're all crooked and bent over. No one wants to look at you.' And they grew up in that forest together. And then one day the loggers came, and they saw the crooked tree and the straight tree, and they said, 'Just cut the straight trees and leave the rest.' So the loggers turned all the straight trees into lumber and toothpicks and paper. And the crooked tree is still there, 

growing stronger and stranger every day.” 

― Tom Waits, American singer-songwriter, composer and actor

Taken from Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits by Barney Hoskyns

Design Thinking: Tim Brown

I always approach career choice from a design point of view. (Does my "create yourself" tagline give me away?)

So of course I love this video with Tim Brown of IDEO.

Enjoy!
-Katie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgH3XaGIZog

Happy (zzzzzzzz....) New Year

This new year I feel as if I'm an old grizzly bear, groggily stirring from a deep winter slumber.

I can assure you, however, that I'm not complaining.

This extremely relaxed state is due to the fact that I haven't done much in terms of work during these past two weeks; mostly my time has been focused on my family.  Since my husband took off two weeks I vowed to pretty much do the same. Except for a client meeting here and there, I have been off the grid professionally.  No writing, no presentation planning, very little coaching, no reading about coaching or motivating people.

My days these past two weeks have consisted mainly of sleeping in, cooking, baking, scouring the immediate area-and world wide web- for holiday gifts, wrapping those gifts and unwrapping some goodies of my own, going out to dinner, entertaining, reading non-fiction, ice skating, playing in the snow with my kids, and, one of my favorites, sitting by the fire roasting marshmallows.

And while I've enjoyed relaxing and focusing more on family and friends, I hesitate to borrow the clichéd phrase, "I reconnected with what is truly important." Because "what is truly important" spans beyond relaxation and family and friends and my time with them.  As crucial as those precious moments may be, the lack of hard work for two weeks reminds me of the importance of playing my other roles in life beyond wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend.  I appreciate my need to fill other capacities that involve solving problems and creating career opportunities for others.

I unabashedly admit that I revel in the energy that comes with orchestrating possible business opportunities, connecting with new people in my quest to better career education, creating new tools to help empower people to reach their potential. I'm invigorated by activities such as coaching, writing, reading, and presenting. I suppose that is the "flow" that the great psychologist/philosopher, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to.

“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, 
when the challenges are just balanced 
with the person's capacity to act.” 

― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

In essence, I derive momentum from doing what I enjoy and employing my greatest abilities.

But I also acknowledge the longterm rewards that come from sitting back, letting my stronger abilities take a vacation and noticing non-work related things. Like what Christmas presents my kids are enjoying the most. Or talking to my husband about the flavors of the latest roasted sweet potato recipe I've created. Or not having any ambitions beyond retiring the ole PJ's by noon-or 5pm on a good day. It gives my mind a chance to let ideas from 2013 percolate without any interruption. And I'll have a fresh perspective on the creative problems I'll need to help others tackle this coming year.

Of course, this also means that I don't have that momentum to tackle much right out of the gate. And that some opportunities for professional growth probably passed me by as I laid on the couch and watched my son act out an imaginary game of football while watching a real football game on TV. (Same goes with hockey- when he watches sports, there are always two games going on- the real and the imagined one. Tackling himself gets a little crazy, but whatever.)

It means that at the end of this hibernation I feel the grip of that cumbersome law of physics which says an object at rest stays at rest. That any motion toward progress feels about as distant as that bar of soap when you're lazily submerged in a warm, sudsy bubble bath.

So, in this brand spankin' new year, my creative juices are still in need of some revving up. I'm still feeling a bit lethargic and more than a trite unambitious. But that's okay. After all, 2014 is still in it's infancy and we're a mere four days in.

And I figure, why not have a more gradual approach to the new year?

Ciabatta, Anyone?

I've therefore decided to borrow the words on a sign outside a new local bakery/eatery. The sign claims the store is having a "soft opening," which means, I discovered, no grand openings. No website. No liquor license, at least yet. Credit cards will be accepted... eventually. And please, don't expect regular hours during the week.

However, most weekends you'll likely find its door open for business, an aroma of freshly baked bread wafting out into the parking lot, beckoning hapless passersby to pop in for a buttery, flaky pain au chocolat or pecan sticky bun.

Of course, I have no idea what this "soft opening" means for their bottom line.  And, I suppose, it's not my problem to address anyway.  I just try to do my civic, locavore duty by buying their delectably moist chocolate chip muffins and melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls. (I know, I know. I am so altruistic.)

Alas, cheers to a "soft" beginning in 2014. May you have many lovely moments to experience in the new year-personally and professionally.

Photo credit: Creative Commons, Via Flickr