You and your job (a year-ish on)
Just over a year ago I published a little blog post called ‘You and your job‘ which was basically a few lines of self-motivation to take my chances outside the ‘security’ of a full time job. I’ve been trying to write a follow up to it for a few months but have been unable to nurture the points I wanted to make into a narrative. So, rather than just let the notes I did make rot in a notebook, I thought I would post the notes warts et al.
If it is of even the slightest interest to you I still suggest you take all points with a generous pinch of salt.
Many thanks for reading.
- Was never meant to be taken literally and was meant to be taken very much in general
- Some people did take it far too literally and even thought I was talking directly about them and a particular company and a particular job
- Was meant to spur on anyone to Do something about the work they are doing if it was making them unhappy (if they wanted it, only if they were looking for some kind of push). No one is much use to either themselves or their employer (if they have one) if they are unhappy. It is easy to rant/rail/moan/gossip about a job but if it ain’t working out and you are doing something that is wasting your – and other’s – time, then you really owe it to yourself to do something else.
- Believing you can change most things is the easy bit. To keep believing is where it gets harder.
- It’s not the fact that it’s work, it’s the fact of what the work is.
- And contrary to popular believe, you probably build better relationships with clients when you are contracting/providing services.
- Recruiters when trying to hire and not explaining what the work involves (and more often than not having no understanding of the work itself) encapsulates everything wrong with UX recruitment.
- If your not passionate go do something else.
- The previous post really seemed to hit a spot with quite a lot of people as though I had single handedly encouraged a dismantling of all responsibility.
- The previous post wasn’t directing people to walk straight out the door. It was a reminder to always think carefully about what you are doing, where you are and how your working life is working out for you. Small adjustments can make the differences.
- No piece of writing let alone some inconsequential blog post is for everyone. If you don’t need encouragement, if you are happy, then it wasn’t for you. But there are some people who have itches and itches that keep itching and these people need to keep moving, doing their own thing. (Maybe the post was for them, maybe it wasn’t.)
- No need to complain about encouraging folk to do their own thing. Some folk are cut for the long haul and some get those itches. Everyone needs to encourage people flows. Itches shouldn’t be allowed to bleed. You don’t need to get up people noses. There maybe unsettling periods as different people find their comfortable positions and their place in the world. Reward the right people with the right things for them. It is no simpler than that. Hostility rarely attracts loyalty. We are all different and we all have different skills. There isn’t just one solution.
- In terms of the UX design community in London, you can’t have everyone in a full time job and in the same way you can’t have everyone contracting, running their own little shows. Balances have to be struck.
- Great people come in many many different shades and don’t always work/operate exactly the way you want them to. Don’t try and box them in.
- You should go it alone/start your own thing up for the right reasons. Don’t just leave a job to coomand higher rates. That’s a shit reason. Don’t do it for money and less responsbility. Do it because you want to make something, create something. Do it because you want to be able to select projects where you can make a difference, take responsbility, work hard. Deliver.
- Don’t expect everything to just be delivered to you on a plate. Nothing comes easy, least of all being worthwhile, doing something worthwhile (either on your own or in collaboration with others).
- The action is to start something, be something, take risks, don’t panic, don’t fear, explore, think beyond your horizon, don’t be dominated by money don’t think in terms of money. Try it.
//@solle
//London
