Daily Endeavor Blog » explore

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking

Matt — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:37:54 +0000

‎Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do…If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

A Parent Ponders Her Child Discovering What She Loves To Do

Matt — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 01:51:20 +0000

Over at her blog, Princess Polymath, software engineer extraordinaire Kirsten Jones thinks aloud about her work life and the one her daughter will discover. Kirsten has built some amazing software magic (I had the pleasure I working alongside her at Socialtext), and now helps engineers extend the Linkedin platform. Early on she learned, by happenstance, that she likes to make information more clear and unnecessary manual tasks go away. But will her daughter like the same?

I’ve been having a lot of discussions with my daughter about what she wants to do for her “job” when she “grows up”. She’s 14 now, at that age where she needs to start putting some focus and attention on how she’ll feed herself once she’s no longer a kid. She’s an amazing person, who loves to do many things at a time (marching band, professional Shakespeare, venture scouts, role playing games, art…) and I know there are lots of jobs she’d just love – and many that she would really detest. I, of course, think she would love my job because it is perfect for me in every way and she shares my genetic code, but really… no.

As an awesome parent, Kirsten already shows she doesn’t get trapped where many do — believing there’s just one thing a person might love doing. There are so many each of us will fall for. Fortunately for her daughter, she’s also not holding out for the offspring to be replicas. Go Mom.

She currently thinks she really wants to be an animator at Pixar. The girl is an amazing artist, don’t get me wrong, but she gets frustrated by the indirectness of computer art – and I’m not sure she’d really enjoy the demanding precision of such an endeavor.

Everyone starts with an inkling. Some spark. Usually many sparks. Then they’re faced with the challenge of learning more about each, and deciding which ones to pursue more (this is where Daily Endeavor is working to help).

But really, I don’t care what she does. I just don’t want her to do a job she hates. I’ve done that, even things I was particular fantastic at (typing title policies at an insurance company) and the entirety of your life is really dragged down when you do a job you dislike.

Amen, sister.

So, how to help my daughter? I’m glad she doesn’t have the mindset I had in high school where you were supposed to breathlessly rush through all 16 years of el-hi-university and then off you go to work without stopping to consider where you were going. I’d love her to take a year or a few after high school to wander around and just be young. She’s studying Japanese, and while I know that at just-about-6-feet she’ll stick out there, I would love her to spend a year in Japan learning about their culture. I envy her this freedom, but can’t wait to see what she does with it.

From where I’m sitting, this is one fortunate daughter. Here’s a Mom who understands there’s no more direct path to discovering what her daughter wants from her work life than iterating. In getting started, her daughter could use inputs on the kinds of jobs that exist and social proof around what to believe, so that’s one of the places we hope to help out.

Are you alive? Prove it.

Matt — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 21:26:55 +0000

Hugh MacLeod doesn’t pull punches. He’s not shy about getting straight to the point. I find it amazingly refreshing.

I believe there’s a huge cost in settling. I believe that the people who take the risk to seek out something that truly fires them up live out different and better lives.

Hugh says it succinctly today over at Gapingvoid:

Holstee Gets It

Matt — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:56:01 +0000

YCombinator shared a tweet today from the folks at Holstee. They have a manifesto that’s so consistent with our outlook (in fact, with our manifesto), I feel like we were separated at birth.

When we first asked what will you do with your one wild and precious life, this is exactly response we found ourselves answering with

There are hundreds of thousands species of work that you’ve likely never heard of. If the one you’re in isn’t firing you up, don’t settle. Explore your options. Find something that both meets your financial needs and your growth needs. Many people take jobs for money, but almost all leave them when they quit learning. We want to help you seek out a life worth living. And it looks like Holstee does too.

How to Discover Careers You Never Knew Existed

Matt — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:47:51 +0000

I had the real pleasure today of chatting with Lindsey Pollak over on her MyPath BlogTalkRadio Show. Lindsey of course is one of the central (& IMHO one of the best) voices describing career and workplace issues for Gen Y (see e.g. Getting from College to Career). She’s also recently been working with LinkedIn as they start to roll out tools for students.

In the short podcast (10 min) we cover why it’s so hard today to learn about the jobs that are out there and some of the more interesting ones. My favorite question is when she asks “Did you struggle at all?” to which the answer is definitely Yes. Interviews can so often be sterile and she makes it human.

Here’s the clip:

What is Daily Endeavor?

Matt — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:45:11 +0000

Daily Endeavor is a free online guide to jobs to help people figure out what they want to do next professionally. It’s the first step in the job search.

The website is a continually improving collection of job reviews that are collectively and publicly written by people who have had them. Of the three major stages job seekers pass through – What do I want to do next? Who do I know in that area? Who’s hiring now? – All the job boards, like CareerBuilder, The Ladders, and Monster, solve the third; LinkedIn and Facebook solve the second (though LinkedIn is growing to do a good job on more than that); and Daily Endeavor solves the first.

When most people are asked “What do you want to do next?” they respond with “What are my options?” They don’t want to know who’s hiring tomorrow, at least not as their first step. They want to understand the types of jobs that exist and which ones might be right for them.

This need, which was continually the headline in hundreds of client conversations at Endeavor Prep, is critical and unmet for nearly every student in business school, law school, graduate school, college, and increasingly high school. We originally thought this pain was primarily felt by students, but as the economy tanked and our average client age increased, we learned it’s also the central need for people switching types of work in their 30s and 40s, and even those starting their encore careers.

Because there’s no easy way to learn about 99% of the types of jobs that exist (e.g. Research in Strategy Management Consulting, or Co-Founder in Microinsurance), people do the best they can and fill the void with informational interviews. They try to get meetings with people they know who can explain a little bit about what they do.

Informational interviews are great, but of course have some real limitations if you want to learn about a lot of areas, especially if those areas are varied. Organizing one-on-one meetings is really time consuming for both people involved. And most of all, your potential to learn is limited by who you know.

We’re building the world’s largest set of do-it-yourself “informational interviews” online so everyone can quickly explore, vet and “follow” jobs and professional categories during their job search.

If you’re looking for a job, Daily Endeavor enables you to explore the universe of options even if you don’t know a lot of people. Our goal is to democratize access to careers — we want you to be able to learn about professions regardless of who you know.

There’s more to say and more to come. For now, go ahead and check out Daily Endeavor. It’s the first step to get you started in your next job.

Ask a Different Question

Matt — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:06:39 +0000

How many times have you heard the question “What do you want to do?” More often than not the person asking wants to help. It seems a friendly enough question: it’s an expression of interest in the other person, it’s asking vs. assuming, it’s forward looking, it’s an invitation to talk more.

So why do so many people fill with dread when they’re asked? My opinion: it’s nearly impossible to answer. It’s not as impossible as the utopian “What do you see yourself doing in 20 years?” but it’s well on its way.

For many, the question they hear is: “What’s the one thing you want to do?” or “What do you want to do with your life?” You mean, the rest of my life? It’s an awkward position to be put in. You either need to skirt around the truth by stating there’s only one conceivable thing you want to do for the next 70 years which may put a big dent in your credibility, or if you don’t know, then you look shallow, unprepared, or even weak by not having a genuine answer to such an important personal question.

Awkward. It’s possible the person is trying to test you, but most often it’s someone trying to be friendly, someone who really wants to see you find it, whatever it is. In fact that someone may be you, asking yourself for the umpteenth time.

Ask a different question. The direction is right, but the framing is wrong. Instead of going for certainty, lower the bar a bit.

What do you think you want to do?

This seemingly small change acknowledges you’re a warm-blooded person with multiple (if not disparate and conflicting) interests, and gives you space to be intrigued by something, but not wed to it.

Then put the drop on the forever thing. Move the horizon to something much closer that you can actually picture and act on. Two years out is about as far as I can picture, and truthfully it’s already pretty blurry by that point. Continuing to re-frame, it looks like:

Over the next two years, what do you think you want to do?

For getting stuff done, two weeks is a much better period to have a clear line-of-sight. The problem with two weeks though is it’s hard to do anything that really stretches you; it’s a tactical block of time. If you’re thinking about a full-time role as the next step in your work life, a two year horizon gives you enough room to start to think big and has the benefit of being a period of time that hiring firms know how to speak.

Sometimes though, even this question is still too open-ended to be able to answer. The canvas can feel too blank. The implied question can still often be “What job do you want to do?” You and I both know life is so much bigger than a job. I find It’s easier to answer a question about an idea, an interest, a way of doing things, or a result. In other words, think about what else you’d like to include in your growing reputation.

Over the next two years, what do you want to be better known for?

Now that’s a question you can sink your teeth into. For example:

I’d like to be better known for my real estate deal analysis prowess
I’d like to be better known for my open source code
I’d like to be better known for my growing microfinance expertise
I’d like to be better known for closing big sales
I’d like to be better known for describing our cleantech future
I’d like to be better known for enabling local eyewitness reporting to flourish

This form of the question is not a 100% solution; it’s simply one step along the way. Nonetheless, I’ve found working with folks that it’s a good way to break the logjam of beginning to think about what next. What do you think?

David Byrne: A Time to Reflect

Matt — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:10:40 +0000

Amidst the upheaval and real economic uncertainty, some people are asking the big questions that often get swept under the rug in go-go times. Questions like: what’s important to me?

Today Mark Hurst’s Good Experience newsletter arrived with a great pull-quote from David Byrne on this very topic. From Mark’s column:

Finally, for more listening: throughout the month of March, David Byrne streams old school gospel. He writes (and I agree):

Byrne…

With the economy and people’s finances in free fall, this is a time when many of us pause to reassess our values — what is important to us, what really matters and how we might restructure our lives to reflect those values. …

Whether you believe in the geezer upstairs or not, you might enjoy these tunes. They’re also the structural foundation upon which a lot of popular music was built — a strong foundation, I might add.

http://www.davidbyrne.com/radio/index.php

It’s the line in the middle that I hear people asking more and more:

what is important to us, what really matters and how we might restructure our lives to reflect those values….

The opportunity cost has never been lower to explore what might be right for you. It’s great to see people doing it.

Fast Company: Prune for Growth

Matt — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:55:52 +0000

Robert Safian, the editor over at Fast Company, led off his March issue with a message that’s timely and worth repeating. Amidst the gloom and the real pain, there are many reasons to celebrate. In profiling the 50 Most Innovative Companies (and 159 overall), he provides evidence to support his case.

While hope is the over-arching theme, his message is more than that. He outlines how we’ll build our way out of the cratering economy

Only creativity and aggressive innovation — in the face of hardship and layoffs and seriously tough choices — will fuel a turnaround…In the midst of our troubles, remarkable things have happened, and they will continue to happen — if we prune the unproductive and broken, and nurture those enterprises that point to a more positive future.

On a macro basis, the market (and increasingly the government) guide our choices about what’s not working and where to prune. What about on a personal basis? When you are thinking about what career move to make next, are you looking to where growth is? Have you assessed what’s been working for you and what hasn’t in the contributions you’ve made over the last 2 years? What will you prune? Where will you invest?

These questions are not only relevant to industries and companies, they’re important for each us as individuals. It reminds me of Reid Hoffman’s message that everyone is an entrepreneur and everyone is managing risk, even if you’re working in a job for a company.

With incomes stalling, and some even removed for now, the opportunity cost has never been lower to explore what you need and what you want to do next. So, what do you want to do?

Jonathan Harris: Once you have learned how to speak, what will you say?

Matt — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:27:09 +0000

From a danah boyd tweet I ran across the work of Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar. It’s smart and visually mesmerizing. The bread crumb trail led me to a talk (“Beyond Flash“, slides) that Harris gave in October where he poses a powerful question:

Once you have learned how to speak, what will you say? This is really the central question. If I can leave you with one idea from my talk, this would be it.

It’s this question I have to believe Mary Oliver had in mind when she was writing a Summer Day. It’s also the central question we’re pursuing with Endeavor Prep. Jonathan’s is a potent question because it has two assumptions embedded in it that are significant for every person alive.

Good to Know

The first is a recognition that we’re all learning how to speak — that is, becoming individuals who can participate in the world, do things, partner, contribute, and, sure also in a literal sense, say things so as to engage and involve others. When people realize this about themselves, if I’m lucky enough to be around, it’s a great moment to be a part of. Their face (or voice) says, “I’ve actually learned all this stuff, and when I go out into the world, you know what, people respond to me.” It’s an a-ha moment that sometimes happens in college, sometimes after. The world at once gets much smaller because now each other person is accessible and just a few hops away, and also much bigger because of the staggering variation of interests and action happening out there.

Don’t be Daunted

Second, once people realize they have a voice and can cut their own path, the real question becomes What do you want to do with it? On one hand, the pure freedom and potential is exhilarating. On the other, it’s also a big hairy weighty question.

For some people it feels monolithic, as if it needs be answered all at once. So choosing, no wait, supposedly optimizing among every option is overwhelming. It’s like there’s one shot to pick from the menu and that’s what I’ll be eating, and known for eating, for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, picking “one time” is a false choice. Discovering what you will say is an iterative process. Even when you make a choice to try something out, you can still make another choice at another time to try something else.

If you want to be an gold medalist in gymnastics and you’re just starting 25, then yes, you may have missed the window. But for 99.9999% of the options out there, you can prototype your way towards it.

Learn by Doing

I’m glad I ran across the Jonathan Harris talk (there’s more here at TED). His projects and tips are really worth looking into. Here are few more:

You will become known for doing what you do. This may sound obvious, but it is a useful thing to realize. Many people seem to think they must endure a “rite of passage” which, once passed, will allow them to do the kind of work they want to do. Then they end up disappointed that this day never comes. Find a way to do the work you want to do, even if it means working nights and weekends. Once you’ve done a handful of excellent things in a given way, you will become known as the person who does excellent things in that given way. And that’s the person you want to be, because then people will hire you to be that person.

The personal is powerful. Trust your own experience. It’s the only thing that’s really yours, and that’s really unique. Putting yourself in your work can be powerful.

Do your own thing. If you imitate, you’ll only ever be a bad example of the thing you’re trying to imitate. An artist I like very much, Donald Judd, said that what you have to do is to find the same level of inventiveness as the person you’re trying to imitate. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t incorporate elements of other people’s work. As Picasso said: “Bad artists copy; great artists steal.” What he meant is that it can be OK to steal an idea from somewhere else, as long as you steal the idea and do something new with it, make it your own, and move on. If you copy it outright you’ll only get stuck in the past.

Experience is the only way to learn. Pain, joy, fear, risk, love, firsthand experience. You can learn so much from these things, and the experience will end up affecting your work in ways you don’t even realize. But it’ll be based on a real thing.

Right on.