Vertical Bar Careerists Unite!

Time To Read: 4 mins

 

Let’s say you’re at a dinner party or a networking event where you’ve met someone for the first time and he/she asks, “So, what do you do for a living?” Or, maybe you’re having coffee with a former colleague, and the inevitable question comes up, “What are you doing these days?”

When you work full time at a job, it’s a simple answer to the first question. I am the “senior engineer” at XYZ; I work at ABC government agency and I’m a “research scientist;” or I am a consultant to startups. These are clear titles and roles.

The answer to the second question, “What are you doing these days?” may be tougher because you’re likely in a transitional phase where you’re figuring out what’s next and don’t have anything concrete to share. Awkward.

What do you do? What are you doing these days? These questions can stir up intense feelings of turmoil for some of us.

Continue reading “Vertical Bar Careerists Unite!”

Don’t Go Down That Rabbit Hole: Begin With Your Idea

Time To Read: 3 mins

 

The wrong question. Have you felt stymied when asked the wrong question? I have.

When I’ve had the courage to share an idea that I’ve come up with I might get the question, “What’s your target market?”

This question is a reasonable one. What drives this question is who will “purchase” this idea of yours.

It’s a fair question. And, the underlying rationale is don’t invest any time in this idea UNTIL you can identify that target market and know what customers in that market want and develop the idea to fit those tastes.

But that question is the wrong one. Continue reading “Don’t Go Down That Rabbit Hole: Begin With Your Idea”