by Brian on August 31, 2010
I was flattered and very pleased this week to be selected by one of my favorite bloggers, Lisa, to guest blog on her site, 2CreateAWebSite.com. The topic that I’d chosen to write about was How to Court Failure.
You might think this was a cautionary tale, and in a way it is. But not like you think. Read on…
So what is the Harley emblem doing blazoned across the top of this post? I love Harleys. I hate loud noises but I love the sound of my Heritage Softail Classic. It’s also a beautiful piece of machinery, not unlike artwork by my friend, Ginny Ruffner, at least insomuch as they both use lots of heavy metal.
Harleys were once the ride of the social misfit. Not that bikers were necessarily misfits but mainstream culture saw them that way. Now big bikes are the ride of corporate CEOs who want to play bad boy on the weekend. At $16,000 to $25,000 for a new Harley, that’s an expensive image.
But it’s one that Harley has sold extremely well. Harley’s success cannot be measured in dollars alone.
I don’t know what the company’s officers thought about their customers when Harley was associated with danger and criminal activity. But they effectively transformed the company into a respected worldwide product line that is one of the handful of instantly recognizable brands that scream “America” without being offensive (I’m sure that’s a matter of opinion, yes). McDonalds would have a very hard time doing that. In fact, part of the worldwide allure of Harleys is their association with “American” values of freedom and independence.
(Please take note that I realize this is an illusion. My Harley does give me a feeling of freedom and independence but so did my Yamaha. It’s the association with those feelings that Harley markets so well. And there is something about the name, the styling, and the sound that sets Harley apart.)
What does this have to do with illusions of personal success? Whether we’re talking about Bill Gates or Harley or AIG or you and me, we seem to have very narrow definitions of what success means. The worst part is that we often don’t define it for ourselves but we let the culture provide a definition into which we try to shoehorn ourselves.
As I said in one of the comments on Lisa’s blog, perhaps the biggest failure we make in life is not defining success for ourselves, defining it narrowly by social standards, subsequently defining its absence as failure, and then being miserable with the results.
I suspect what most people want is not really mega-success but freedom from worry and want. I didn’t need that Harley but I wanted it. I also didn’t define its absence as a personal failure.
The truth is, some days that bike is just a thrill to ride and I’m so glad I have it. Other days, I can’t get into the groove on the road and it’s tiring to ride. (On those days, I’m still glad I have it.)
We choose how we feel about the things that happen in life. Sometimes overwhelming feelings make it feel like we have no choice but we do. People in extreme situations have shown that over and over.
This meandering post has a point. Whether or not I successfully convey what I’m trying to say in it is irrelevant. If my definition of success for this blog is a million readers, I’m falling short and this post won’t help that.
But that’s not my definition. I haven’t decided yet what this blog is going to be. I just know I like to write it.
by Brian on July 21, 2010
I was sitting in an office reception area yesterday. I don’t like doing this for some reason. It makes me uncomfortable; maybe because it was a doctor’s office and everyone coming in there has very personal reasons for being there. We all sit there sort of announcing in silence that we’re holding a secret. Part of the veneer of civilization.
I distracted myself by looking at a beautiful photo on the wall of mountains reflected in a lowland lake. I started wondering why I “understood” the elements of this image without putting words to the various pieces. I didn’t sit there thinking, “That’s a mountain, that’s a lake, those are reeds, etc.” I just know it.
I have a degree in psychology and I’ve never stopped having a deep interest in neuroscience and the mechanics of perception. Humans are wired for pattern recognition and the neurons that fired in response to that mountain photo are a well-worn pattern.
When we don’t understand something, our neurons fire in ways that attempt to fit recognizable patterns in the various elements of the object that we’re trying to understand. There’s a kind of tension attendant upon a lack of understanding. We want it bad.
In fact, we want it so bad (or at least the brain is wired so consistently to find patterns) that we make errors in perception all the time. We think we see things that aren’t really there or are different than reality because once something fits a neural pattern, the brain stops searching for a good fit.
This is one of the reasons why eyewitness testimony is so unreliable. In terms of survival, it doesn’t much matter that our perception is flawed. It’s good enough in most cases.
But is that all that’s involved in understanding? What does it mean to understand something?
by Brian on June 22, 2010
If someone asked you what your dream job would be, could you answer the question? How specific could you be or how specific do you think you’d need to be?
I’ve thought about this question a lot in the past 18 months since I left Microsoft. I’ve written about it and talked about it and identified a number of characteristics of a dream job for me. The fact is, I had no thought of working for anyone else so you’ll note that these characteristics are those of a freelancer.
- Autonomy
- Freedom from being an employee
- Compensation appropriate to my skills and experience
- Time that is my own to schedule
- Coworkers whom I adore
- Work that keeps me interested and engaged
- Responsibility coupled with the authority to do the job
I think I may have found the job. I’ve put together an agreement with one of the best web design studios in the country to direct their SEO program.
Gravitate already ranks number one on Google for a number of keyword phrases that are important to their business. They know how to do high search engine positioning. My job is to direct the search engine optimization efforts for Gravitate’s clients and to grow that part of Gravitate’s business.
Why does this fit my definition of a dream job?
I’ve known the owners of the company for years and they’re among my dearest friends. We originally worked together when I hired Gravitate to build a website for Ancient Egypt Research Associates, Dr. Mark Lehner’s team. Working on that project was one of the most satisfying professional experiences I’ve ever had.
We enjoyed working together so much that over the years, we’ve looked for other opportunities to repeat that experience. Gravitate has a very capable team working on SEO but when we started talking about collaborating this year, the discussions led to the fact that the SEO team needs to grow to serve all of the requests the company is getting for search engine optimization services.
Another dream-job aspect is that I’ll be able to run with the same level of autonomy that made my job at Microsoft fun. The position at Gravitate will actually afford more autonomy because of the level of trust I have with the principles and our shared goals.
I also like that my compensation will be based almost entirely on performance. I love that kind of challenge, which brings out the entrepreneur in me.
I’m already hip deep into it this week. I imagine this blog will become even more SEO focused than it has been, with continued evangelizing for the importance of SEO copywriting.
I’m a very lucky boy.
