Here is what I think I know, part 1

This part covers what I've learned about me this year. Part 2 will be about money making ventures. These 2 parts are required set up for the speculation post that will follow. In other words, this may take a few days, folks!

The job I've had for over 2 years now marked the first time that I have been intimately involved with the work processes of people who share my job title. That means that it has been the first real opportunity for me to understand how my approach differs from the way that others accomplish the same tasks. This "comparison", for lack of a better word, has nothing to do with the results that each person achieved. I'm very comfortable with the notion that there is more than one successful way to accomplish anything - and if I hadn't been before, I would certainly understand it now! But it did make it impossible for me to discount the differences in approach that I have always (I realize now!) brought to my work.

As I've said before, I am a paid problem solver/optimizer/solution designer in the corporate world. I primarily work within an extremely analytical methodology to solve high dollar value problems. I began my current job within a group of 12 people (now 35) tasked with the same goals within a critical segment of a very large company. Because we were so few, and were all creating our own roles as we went, there was an unusually high amount of detailed sharing and communication. We talked about frustrations and successes, approaches and tactics, strategies and long term goals. We lived in each others' pockets. And every one of us went about accomplishing our shared objectives in a completely different way.

From this, I've learned that I am primarily being paid just for the ability to combine 2 pieces of my psyche. I see things differently and I act as a catalyst. In a sense, both of these can be described as (thanks, AD) pattern weaving. I research any idea that strikes my fancy and I spend a lot of time getting to know people. Then, when the time comes, I pull together ideas and people that most people don't think are related.

Typically, I use this when presented with a problem that needs to be solved. I remember some random research idea from 6 months ago, combine it with some other tidbit that someone mentioned in a meeting last week, and then immediately know who should be involved to take this hybrid idea through to completion. I get the right people in the room (or on the phone) and connect them to each other in ways that make perfect sense to me. I use my analytical background to help them work through any data questions that arise while trying to understand the full depth and breadth of the problem. After that, I let them run the show while staying in touch with them to fine tune ideas or redirect energies as needed.

The other way that my brain works with these things is in reverse. Instead of starting with a specific problem, I can be given someone's long term strategy or vision. I can take that "big picture" and lay out a plan that will get us all where we want to go.

This last 2 years, my job has taken my instinctive work with this approach and turned it into a concept that changes my understanding of what I do for a living. As you can imagine, this has changed the way I look at all of my various roles that bring money into the family. But that is a post for - hopefully - tomorrow!