House of Eratosthenes

In the final stretch before my birthday, I was thinking about jobs. Bringing creativity to a job. Bringing resourcefulness to a job. The difference between those two things. Knowing when not to bring them. Bringing them at the wrong time. Watching someone else bring them when they’re not needed. How annoying that guy is.

It occurs to me; now that I’m 57, I have screwed that pooch every possible way. And I should say something about it because screwing up has a way of educating you, that getting it right does not. And my experience is somewhat unique because all this time, at least in theory, the resourcefulness and creativity are how I’m supposed to have been paying the bills. That’s not true of everybody.

Also, the kids starting out in that situation, now, are going to have it much tougher than I did. Things are not getting better-defined. The newer technology is putting us in need of new definitions we never needed before, and no one is coming up with them. Worse still, activists are undoing the definitions we had in place already. And so, to those kids who are like me 35, 40 years ago, being hired for their “youth, enthusiasm, energy and creativity” I say…

I got nothin’.

Well okay, maybe I’ve got just a couple things.

You might notice I’m discussing creativity and/or resourcefulness in a job. It’s a big topic. I’m not talking about just coding. I’m talking about anything where you’re called upon to “think outside the box,” which for many decades now has been, at least in one situation or another, just about everything.

I’ve had jobs where I was specifically hired for exactly that. And I kept them because I figured out, that’s not it at all, my performance is being assessed purely on whether I’m doing it exactly the way someone else would do it. And I quit that. Another job, it worked that way but I didn’t see it coming, and I lost that. Most jobs, you’re hired to bring your creativity and resourcefulness if they’re needed, but if you read up you’ll find there’s already an established way to do it. And you’d better do that, because if someone else knows of that established way and they’re waiting for you to do it, and you’re goofing around re-inventing the wheel, that’s pretty aggravating for them. You’ll probably get your ass fired.

So do lots of reading.

Stay away from the following people:

The ones who want you to come up with a novel new idea that actually works, so they can steal it.

The ones who want your creativity to be challenged so that you come up with a novel new idea…and they can take credit for making you do it.

Salesmen who need this one particular new feature “so they can close the sale.” And then that becomes your requirement(s). You know, they’re really not the problem; they’re just doing their jobs. But if that’s how it works for you, you’re missing a layer of management and your life is going to become progressively worse as long as you’re missing it. It’s not important to explore how I learned this.

The ones who already have the script written out in their heads, that they’re the only ones who come up with any novel ideas; they just don’t know what they are yet. And when they see you doing it first, get into a rivalry with you because you did it first.

The ones who already have the script written out in their heads about what your novel new idea is supposed to be. And get upset with you because you didn’t follow that script, instead you came up with something else. They’re the worst. They don’t know they’re doing harm.

Of course — the ones who don’t want any creativity coming out anywhere at all ever. Everything worth inventing has been invented already.

And, the ones who don’t understand what exactly it is that you do. And decide, on that basis, that it must not be very important. Hehe that’s totally right Sprocket, the whole world revolves around just the things you understand, and everything else is just goo. If such a person is making decisions or recommendations when it’s time for a layoff, you might as well just go ahead and quit now.

Creativity is the impulse. It is the effervescence. When the cow is blocked by the bale of hay and she can’t figure out how to walk around it, that’s what she’s missing. Resourcefulness is the practical application of that creativity. It is the use of a limited set of resources you have, but did not choose, to achieve a particular goal, that you did not choose. Yes, you can still use these to build for yourself a whole career, hopefully amassing a retirement fund more steadily than I did. It’s a blessing, although it won’t always feel like it.

If that’s you, buckle up bitches. Get ready for a ride.

But you’ll still have to read people, to manage your career. Read them thoroughly and well. Admit you haven’t figured out yet, that which you don’t know. People are multi-layered. They can’t be completely honest with you about their motives if they’re not honest with themselves about those.

Keep your resourcefulness sharp, since you’re using it to pay your bills. But know when to put it away. Think of it like a knife; keep it in good working order, hide it when it’s not needed. And don’t forget about that reading. Do the reading. Get ready to do lots of it. After all, people are paying you to be something resembling an expert. So know your stuff. After that, if you choose your friends wisely and treat them with honesty and respect, you should do okay.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent

Items of Interest

Monthly Archives

What They Say

Links

Creativity, Resourcefulness and JobsSaturday, July 15th, 2023

Creativity, Resourcefulness and Jobs
Saturday, July 15th, 2023