A few months ago my friend Cord Silverstein had an opportunity to work through what his dream job would look like. It’s an exercise everyone should do at least once a year, but somehow we never find the time. I have the time today.
About 15 or so years ago there was a software store called Babbage’s. I remember looking up the name and finding out about Charles Babbage. Babbage is considered the father of the computer, but that wasn’t what I really found interesting. I loved that he would throw himself into things that he found fascinating. He was wealthy enough that he could follow his passion even if it took him away from the field he had specialized in for the past few years. That type of lifestyle is almost unheard of now. The only modern person that I can think of even close to that is Sir Richard Branson.
Just 10 years ago, my passion was website design and development, 5 years ago it was search engine optimization, 2 years ago it was social media. Today it is all of them as one.
There is no longer much space between the web, search and social media. They have all become one giant blob to be managed, optimized and leveraged. I love being at that intersection.
I am a people person. Yes, I really just said that, and actually take pride in the fact that it’s true. My greatest strength is in my ability to connect with people. I can speak English fairly well, but am also fluent in corporate mumbo-jumbo, developer be-boop, social media unicorn and rainbow dialect and my natural language of “Wouldn’t it be great if…?”
I am a better than average idea guy. I tend to brainstorm even when everyone else has moved on to the real life scenarios of “let’s build a website”. The truth is, that’s not always the answer.
I know I work best as part of a group. I never bought in to the idea of the lone genius. I need to work someplace where there is time to think. There have been times in the past where I’ve been to busy to think about anything. That means too busy to think about how to do my job better, too busy to think about how to streamline the process, too busy to sit and talk to my co-workers about just a better way of doing the work that keeps us so damn busy!
I have realized that if I don’t have time to write, I’m too busy. I like writing for this blog. I have about 5 ideas for each one that finally gets published here, that’s a good thing. That’s when my brain is firing on all 8 cylinders.
I’ve learned to despise talk of tactics, because it usually means the strategy page has been completely skipped over. I am bound and determined to change that with any client I ever work with from this day on. All crazy ideas will then be followed by, “How does that fit into the strategy?”.
Finally is the team. I hate working in CYA mode. I work best when I’m surrounded by people so talented and dependable that they don’t require hand holding. Working with people like Les James, Jeremy Jordan, Laura Bryant, Lucas Myers, Robbie McAlister and Morgan Siem has shown me that the cost of excellence is worth it. When you hire the best, they do the work of 3 people.
I’m not sure exactly what all that adds up to, but it would be something along the lines of Digital Strategist.
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