Uh oh. I was asked to give career advice. Basic theme: "Find the fun, and the job's a game."
Text of Playing Games with Your Career
PLAYING GAMESWITH YOURCAREERSTEPHEN P. ANDERSON
JUST FOR FUN:List as many words as you can answering the
question: Why do people love/leave a job?Only use words that start
with the letter PPayProjectsetc.
STEPHEN P. ANDERSON poetpainter.com I help businesses
[email protected] Product Strategy & Design needs
http://getmentalnotes.com/
http://getmentalnotes.com/
My Book!How to get tofirst base withour users.The book is
divided into four sections: AESTHETICS, BEAUTY, AND BEHAVIOR
PLAYFUL SEDUCTION THE SUBTLE ART OF SEDUCTION THE DATING GAME
I know it is not the usual type of talk that you do, butBrian
Sullivan
explore new ideas and skills... make lots of use worlds of
different things based on activities fantasy to inspire and objects
already familiar a vital part of the creative process is to make
something learn how things are madetry out your own ideas learn
from our failures experiment express creativity by drawing
pictures, writing stories play on their own... or with a group of
real friends inspiration for creativity comes from many different
sourceslook outside your own experience versions of everyday things
allow children to create their own worlds
have to work work
(MESSAGE RECEIVED, LOUD AND CLEAR.)
PLAYING GAMESWITH YOURCAREER
GAMIFICATION
ASSUMPTIONS:1. Job vs Career
Be lo yal to your profession.
ASSUMPTIONS:1. Job vs Career2. Creative services
ASSUMPTIONS:1. Job vs Career2. Creative services3. Do something
you love
WORK AS PLAYPLAYER TYPESPLAYERSWORLDSGOALSCHOOSING TOPLAY
VIEWINGWORK ASPLAY
Once the basic skills have been mastered,designers can use
their imaginations toexplore and create their own
masterpieces.
The more things designers knowabout, the more they can use them
increative thinking and play
Gain experience in as many specialties as possible to round out
your understanding of the moving partsJustin Talericoco-founder Ion
Interactive
http://www.commarts.com/insights/moving-upstream.html
The fewer materials and choicesavailable, the more imagination
isneeded by the maker.
What p erson wouldyou like to be like inyour c areer? Howwould
the y do your job?
Do you think you ever grow out ofimaginary play?
Googles founders Larry Pageand Sergei Brin Amazons Jeff Bezos
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales Julia Child rapper Sean P.Diddy
Combsvideogame pioneer Will Wright
the Montessori educationalapproach might be the surest routeto
joining the creative elite
http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/04/05/the-montessori-maa/
A number of the innovative entrepreneurs also went to
Montessori schools, where they learned to follow their
curiosityhttp://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/04/05/the-montessori-maa/
Similarly, Amazons culture breathesexperimentation and
discovery. !Mr. Bezosoften compares Amazons strategy ofdeveloping
ideas in new markets to plantingseeds or going down blind alleys.
!Amazons executives learn and uncoveropportunities as they go.
!Many efforts turn outto be dead ends, Mr. Bezos has said, But
everyonce in a while, you go down an alley and itopens up into this
huge, broad avenue.
http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/04/05/the-montessori-maa/
Embrace serendipity
most highly creative achievers dont begin with brilliant ideas,
they discover
them.http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/04/05/the-montessori-maa/
Montessori taught me the joy of discovery Its all about
learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stu to
you. SimCity comes right out of Montessorivideogame pioneer Will
Wright
http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/04/05/the-montessori-maa/
We both went to Montessori school, and I think it was part of
that training of not following rules and orders, and being
self-motivated, questioning whats going on in the world, doing
things a little bit dierently.Googles founders Larry Pageand Sergei
Brin
Ive always felt that theres a certain kind of important
pioneering that goes on from an inventor like Thomas EdisonAmazons
Jeff Bezos
SECRET KEY #1
SECRET KEY #1Curiosity
What are you excitedand curi ous about?
makingthings fun -VS-finding the joy
Find th e joy in every project
How does workbecome play? Most importantly, nd the thing that
ignites your passion. When you tap into that energy, work becomes
play and you enjoy every minute of it. Once youre in that mode,
youre destined to do great things. Justin Talerico co-founder Ion
Interactive
http://www.commarts.com/insights/moving-upstream.html
WORK AS PLAYPLAYER TYPESPLAYERSWORLDSGOALSCHOOSING TO PLAYTHE
GAMEPLAN
When have you beenhappies t? List 5-10moments. What kind s of
work excite you most?(Not anything spec ific, but rather
theunderlying nature of the activity)
N o , th e g r a s s is n o t g r e e n e r There are always
tradeoffs
GOALS
When I play pool, I tend tooverthink the angles to make a
shot.Ive found that if I scan the table,see where I want it to go,
thenshoot, I get much better results.Jay Morgan
http://www.ickr.com/photos/pichead/
Where Will You Be inFive Years?
Where woul d you liketo be in f ive years? ompany? be d oing?
With what cWhat would you like to
You win the lotto.What do you wantto do now?
If you knew youwould not fail, whatwould you try?
Your e laid off.You hav e 3 monthsseverance and no
jobprospects. What d o you do?
Practical Tip!
Practical Tip!
Practical Tip!
Practical Tip!
D o n t c o n fu s e g e tt in g s tu ff d o n e w it h m a k
in g p r o g r e s s .
Its ok ay to make things up a s y o u g o a lo n g
SECRET KEY #3
SECRET KEY #3AnalyticalThinkingSkills
Practical Tip!
For the last ve-some years, Ive given up making New Years
Resolutions. Instead I have what I call the New Years Project. Each
year I pick a large topic, and spend my time on and o throughout
the year teaching myself about it.
http://www.eleganthack.com/?p=2809Christina Wodtke Practical
Tip!
What do w ant learnabout? Who knowsall about that? Gom eet
them. Practical Tip!
1. To develop the expertise, reputation, influence, andmeans to
create (and bring to market) product or serviceexperiences that
dramatically improve peoples lives. 2. To inspire and share the
means by whichorganizations can create better customer
experiences.
Everyth ing is a transaction (except for sacrificial love)
What is it that theother pla yers want?What motivates
them?
R e la ti o n s h ip s tr u m p e v e r y th in g
WORK AS PLAYPLAYER TYPESPLAYERSWORLDSGOALSCHOOSING TO PLAYTHE
GAMEPLAN
L o o k fo r a g o o d t
CHOOSINGTO PLAY
Fact:You are already playing in a game.Is it your game or
someone elses?
SECRET KEY #4
SECRET KEY #4Au tonomy
We r e a ll fr e e la n c e r s n o w.
Why not?
THE GAMEPLAN
WHAT DO YOU LOVE DOING? FIGURE OUT HOW TO PRACTICE SELL IT AND
LEARN! WHAT ARE LEARN TO WHAT AREYOU REALLY SAY NO PEOPLE GOOD AT?
BUYING?with some credit to Bud Caddel (whatconsumesme.com) and Jim
Collins Good to Great.
BIG Wa rning: My object in living is to unite My avocation and
my vocation Robert Frost
BIG Wa rning: My object in living is to unite My avocation and
my vocation Robert Frost If you end up doing what you love for a
living, a work-life balance & work-life boundaries are very
dicult to establish.
Wo r k to li v e . B u t d o n t li v e to w o r k .
The "best" investment you can make isnt gold. Its the people
you love, the dreams you have, and living a life that matters.Umair
Haque
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/06/the_best_investment_you_can_ma.html
...you nd the fun, and snap! The jobs a game.
Go P lay! slideshare.net/stephenpa getmentalnotes.com Stephen P
Anderson . @stephenanderson www.poetpainter.com
