Building infrastructure is the bedrock for massive influence.
When I think about how to make a big difference I have the reference of Vanderbilt, the Commodore. Is there an influence like him these days?
Consider Elon Musk and Tesla Motors? With his technological investment in the electric car and building that infrastructure for electric car across America is the basis for a massive infrastructure move. If there is a telegraphing moment, this would be it. Elon has it, but who's next.
Where is the next opportunity in this vein? Who is the next person with this angle of opportunity to inject possibility.
How can I develop new ideas and create knowledge that is own-able?
April 2015
I’m considering that my advancement in the web/tech/design space has been about my connection with FEDs and BEDs and IAs and PMs, even strategy. These connections have been influential in molding my approach from the early days working with R&D developers that won’t let me fail, but wanted my input. They taught me hope to learn, how to find the answer. How to look and explore to the 2,3,4,5 layers of a problem before asking for help.
This level of care and discovery has resulted into a recognizable passion for the space and an equally noticeable ability to impact projects. If I can say this is a force of attraction that draws people in. It makes people want to take a chance with their time or their energy. Stacking several of these individuals next to each other can become a very powerful force. This is that infrastructure that is mentioned above. The connects between myself and these powerful individuals is and will continue to be a very important part of any success I have.
Networking can be both a very public adventure and a private one. The key part is to make those connections with other passionate people. Their passions don’t have to be exact matches to your own, but being around other passionate people is important to helping one build a significant personal/professional infrastructure. There has to be some mathematical term for base, or infrastructure. But with sure footing at this level we can make big moves.
The pitfall of a young designer is that they are attracted to designer things. These things cost money and therefore we need money to realise our designer things and fulfil ourselves as designers with designed things. Not in all cases, but you can easily understand how that can lead you to choose money over passion/passionate people.
Passionate people don’t do it for the money and that’s is why they often don’t have it or display it when they do achieve it.
I am was lucky to work at a web product company before there were many web-based product companies. Constellation helped me understand the freedom of working on product. It was also a great polarization to services work. I’ll lived in a services world for the last 6 years and I can say that it is very very different from that of product. The deadlines, attitude, culture, and sense of accomplishment are all very different because we support a different system.
Just another aspect of infrastructure of ones career that can make dramatic differences in the way I approach work.
I’ve been told that I don’t react appropriately to the high level of pressure associated with each client and project. I should be a bit scared or worried. Project work doesn’t scare me.
