One of the greatest disservices I think I ever did for myself was to put a quote in my senior yearbook (muffled year mumbling) that said something like "without my computer, I'm nothing!" This was lame for a few reasons. First - it's not even that funny, and it didn't age well - which come to think of it, neither did I. Second, it reinforced a false idea that I was exclusively a techie at the expense of all other things. It wasn't true then and it's not true now. Finally, it did nothing to document my actual personality - it belied the reality of who I was at 17.
Now, it's easy to brush off the weak comedic attempts of a 17-year-old kid back in the '90s as having little relevance to today, but I was recently walking alongside someone on my team and I asked them how their weekend was and they immediately started talking about the latest Samsung phone that they were reading about. I listened to this dissertation about processorial and customization advantage over Apple products for a few minutes as we walked, and then we parted ways. I couldn't shake one thought: "does he do anything besides obsess about gadgets and computers?"
As I see it, there are two ways to look at this. The first way is that this person is deeply committed to their profession, derives significant joy from it, and is eager to spend all of their time focused on topics related to it. And while I will grant that this is a possibility, I also see another interpretation: that this person is forsaking or downplaying other interests because they feel like their identity is wrapped up in the technology, at least around someone further up the org chart than they are.
Let me be as clear as possible on this - I think you do yourself a disservice if your only interest is in gadgets, computers, and other things with a chip in them. I'm not saying that geeking out over phones, GPUs or even thermostats is bad - far from it - but I think you're selling yourself short if you don't have and pursue other interests. It risks you being viewed as (or worse, actually being) monodimensional.
Let's take a sidestep for a bit and talk about someone you all know: Steve Jobs. Jobs' interest in art including design and calligraphy has been well documented. He was passionate about these things - and because this was a part of him, those interests influenced and showed up in his work. I think it's hard to argue that part of what made the Mac, the iPod, or the iPhone so popular is that Apple was really, really focused on design - both with software and hardware.
Another example? How about Walt Disney? Here's a guy who made cartoons. Then he took a vacation with his family and recreation became a side passion. And guess what? Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and the empire of Disney Parks and Resorts were born. That would not have happened if Walt had spent all his time working on drawing cartoons - or if he only thought about how to make cartoons for less money.
So, what does this mean for us? It means that you should pursue other interests. I know lots of people who have side hobbies that influence their careers. A friend of mine leads a local Scout troop and the leadership skills he's learned there absolutely come out in his professional life managing a team of people who behave like children. (I'm just kidding about that last part - but you get the idea.)
I'm really interested in personal finance. I do financial literacy training and personal financial coaching/counseling as volunteer work. That has absolutely impacted my IT life. For instance, I am focused on maximizing the impact of our budget and stretching a dollar, as well as being really comfortable having difficult conversations with people. It's really not that different emotionally telling someone that they should find a new family for their cat because they can't afford it and working with a teammate to improve job performance. You're dealing with similar emotions - embarrassment, sadness. The point is, my interest in helping people financially has made me better at being an IT professional.
Considering Steve Jobs again for just a minute. Imagine where Apple - and I think we can safely say therefore the entire tech industry – would be if Jobs didn’t have his interest in art and design. Would we all still be using beige boxes with loud fans and asymmetrical ventilation because it’s “technically superior”? It’s a bleak picture. But apply this to your life and career. What other interests do you have that can make your day job more interesting or bring more value to your company? Remember, they hired you for more than your technical skills. Imagine what awesome breakthroughs you’re missing out on if you don’t bring your whole self to work. This is a big piece of why in education you hear people refer to “well-rounded students.” We don’t want to churn out robots. That’s a boring society that I saw in a movie once.
And so back to you. If you feel sometimes like people only see you as a techie or that your aunt only calls when her router is acting up again, maybe it's because you don't let your other passions show - and you absolutely should! Trust me, no manager worth their role is going to think anything negative about you because you build airplanes in your spare time, or like to go scuba diving. And hey, you never know when using an aviation metaphor will sell your next great idea to your boss… or their boss.
Ultimately, I implore you to not lose sight of the whole you - you're not just a techie. It’s everything else about you that makes you interesting and valuable to your team.
So, here are my questions to you:
What's your other thing?
What have you done to invest in it recently?
Whether or not you think that was enough, what's your plan to invest in it (and yourself) over the next six months?
