In 2009, I'm sure I will. After I was laid off from Razorfish at the end of 2008, I had the opportunity to do a jump-started job search, and a lot of the leads I turned up were very promising. The economic outlook went from grim to super-grim in the interim, and I'm bracing for the worst, hoping for the best.
In the interim, I have a fantastic opportunity to think about some of my longer-term goals. 2008 was a terrific ride in terms of pursuing my writing and performance ambitions. I became stronger in body and in my sense of my own self- a very successful year. A year of reinvention, even, as I harnessed a certain power and confidence from within. Did I ever think I would run nearly 9 miles straight?
And yet I wondered, describing my situation to friends and family over the course of my trip to California for the holidays, whether this isn't the time to reverse the balance of time and effort invested in my two lives, my technology/business career and my work as a writer and performer. In particular childhood friend KS, who landed in "the biz" by accident was highly influential about this.
I have often said that sustenance aside, I'd probably do both. I enjoy making links between business ideas, helping businesses to be their innovative selves and presenting that to their customers; I enjoy making people laugh. It happens to be true that the business of comedy at my level means giving away the product to as many people as possible, as a down payment on future returns- I will continue to pursue these opportunities as a secondary activity.
What I appreciate now is how much I am looking for the right fit with a new employer. The culture and people of Razorfish were important to and supportive of, my professional and personal development. Doing some personality and values exercises the past few weeks to drive resume development and interviewing, I have gotten a bit better understanding of myself. I find that the more I describe myself, the more I think I describe my ideal work environment. So what does that look like?
What do I know about that company?
- Passionate people from diverse backgrounds
- A focus on strategy across businesses
- Always looking for new ideas and reading from a wide variety of sources, connecting ideas and trends together.
- Not maniacally focused on quantitative solutions but loving the elegance of making a model work and making good judgments.
- High standards of quality about data and creativity about finding sources of it.
- Looking for long term success opportunities for the business very likely "shaper" firms rather than "adapter" firms.
- Experimenting with new ideas and applications and talking about them with the public. Creating a community and recruiting passionate followers.
- People invested in developing themselves and a company interested in developing its staff.
- A place where I'll find some other people with performance in their blood, writers or artists or musicians.
I'm going to be compiling a list of companies I think are on this list, and I'm absolutely open to suggestions.