Boundary Crosser

March 8 Career Event With Daniel Pink

2010-03-02T10:25:48-07:00

Sorry for the long absence and the late notice. For those of you who are in the Denver area, don't miss this chance to see Dan Pink speak on March 8 at 6:30pm.

Click here to register.

If you've been following this blog, you'll know that Pink is the one who coined the term, "boundary crosser" in his book, A WHOLE NEW MIND.

Sponsored by the Northwestern Club of Colorado (event is open to the public), I'll be interviewing him about "Careers in the New Decade." Or rather, I'll be picking his brain about his underlying beliefs about the nature of careers, human beings and workplaces, and how things get more complicated (or simplified) during a recession. We'll cover ideas from all four of his books, including his newest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

Here's Pink giving a talk at last year's TED conference about the intrinsic motivation. He introduces many of the concepts that he talks about in Drive:

Again, to see Dan Pink speak live on March 8 in Denver, click here to register.

Good News for Boundary Crossers in the Job Market

2009-12-29T12:03:15-07:00

In a Wall Street Journal article, Landing a Job of the Future Takes a Two-Track Mind, I was struck by how it described the need to inhabit more than one world to land tomorrow's plum job. The article makes it clear that being a specialist in one area doesn't cut it. Instead, the advice is to combine expertise in one domain (e.g., your college major) with skills in "emerging trends." Examples: communications + social media, nursing + IT, financial analyst + risk management. Photo by greenforall.org.

This is good news for boundary crossers, who naturally move between more than one world. What worlds do you move between, where you have knowledge and expertise? And more importantly, how does the convergence of those worlds fit with the needs of the marketplace? This is the jigsaw puzzle of careers.

From Plasma Physics to Wall Street

2009-10-17T11:24:59-06:00

A Wall Street Journal article, "Physicist Makes "Big Bang" at Citi". Hamid Biglari's career highlights range from improving the efficiency of a fusion reactor to leading McKinsey's investment banking practice to helping restructure the financial services company, Citi, after one of the biggest government bailouts. He's a great example of a boundary crosser. Photo: Citigroup.

What struck me in reading the article was this quote, which speaks directly to the idea of second curves for careers:

"I've always believed the best time to reinvent yourself is when you're on a high note as opposed to when in decline," he says. "Your options are larger that way."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Unfortunately, human nature is to ride out the good times, staying comfortable and complacent. It's only in the bad times, on the way down, that starting the next curve becomes a priority.

Dramaturgy and Infomaniacs

2009-09-27T11:23:07-06:00

Has it really been six months since I've posted here? My apologies for the sporadic blogging--it's a pet peeve of mine to start something and not continue with it.

While I haven't written about boundary crossing recently, the topic continues to pop up in my life. I see it with my coaching clients. Very often, they have another world outside of their day job that fascinates and compels them and makes time stand still. These other worlds tend to be more creative than the one that generates the paycheck--e.g., crafts, music, sports, writing. Photo by Sanjiv Vijay

The lucky ones are those who figure out early in life (before 30 years old) that they are meant to walk in two worlds and discover how those two worlds converge or how they can be a bridge. A few examples of people I've run into or read about:

A computer animation specialist who knew as an adolescent that he talents in both the arts and computer science. I met this twenty something at a happy hour. He currently works for a social networking site aimed at tweens. This same example was brought up in a math awards ceremony that I attended with my son. The speaker was the Lieutenant Governer of Colorado and she talked about how some of the best jobs of the future require right brain and left brain thinking, including computer animation. Photo by Ramona Forcella

A dramaturg. Say what? If you Google this term, you'll find the very unhelpful definition, "one who engages in dramaturgy." Wikipedia gives more: "Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage." I first heard about this discipline from a man, probably in his late thirties, sitting at my table for a wedding reception. He has a background in both German literature and theatre and was hired by a major theatre company, not only to find new plays to stage, but to give historical context and accuracy to ones they were producing. A dramaturg helps to bridge the worlds of literature and theatre. There are probably less than 50 working dramaturgists in the US and this person considered himself lucky to have fallen into this field when it was first starting.

Information-focused designer. This month's Fast Company magazine is their annual Masters of Design issue. One of the feature stories showcases the work of Lisa Strausfeld. She majored in art history and computer science and later got a graduate degree in architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. A core question that I imagine Strausfeld grappling with is this: "How do we present data in a visual way that uncovers new insights and engages the human spirit?" Her work spans a wide range of projects, from visual mapping of the relationship among terrorist attacks to creating a new site for the Gallup Organization. to developing the user interface for the One Laptop Per Child computer. Photo by BruceTurner

Some boundary crossers immediately find their sweet spot in work that has become mainstream, like computer animation. Others pioneer a field over a number of years after trying out different things. (Strausfeld started out building architectural models, took a job doing layout design for memory chips, before ending up at MIT's Media Lab.) And still others, like our friend the dramaturg, fall into a select group of specialists.

The important point here is that all successful boundary crossers embrace their gifts. They find ways to use all of their talents in their work, not just the ones that are more traditionally oriented to a job.

How do you walk in two or more worlds? What does the convergence of those worlds look like? How can you begin to use all of your talents in your work?

Bringing All of You To Your Work

2009-03-20T06:08:58-06:00

It's been awhile since I posted on this blog. While I haven't been specifically thinking about boundary crossing, I've been doing it! Check out my other blogs, Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living and A Bigger Voice to see what I've been up to recently.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get feedback on my coaching from a master coach--someone who "supervises" new coaches in training for a living.

I coached a volunteer client for 15 minutes. The master coach then gave me feedback. Two comments stand out in my mind:

Photo by dichohecho

"You were connected to yourself when you were coaching."

"You were using all of you in the coaching."

This is my hope for boundary crossers.

The first part, being connected to yourself, has to do with being comfortable in your own skin and not being self-conscious. You know who you are and you can draw strength from that.

The second part, using all of yourself, in whatever work you do, can be trickier, as many of you know. Let me give several examples, which hopefully will trigger ideas for your own situation.

The pieces of me that showed up in my coaching were intuition, playfulness, and what I call my "engineering mind." I can take the facts, combine with an inkling to understand what's really happening for the client, and then put a light touch on a serious topic. In the words of the master coach, I was able to "hold the client with lightness without being dismissive."
I have a client who heads up a successful leadership development company. He also has a love of music--making music with others, listening to music. One of the things we've been working on is how to bring that love of music into his leadership work, so that all of him shows up when he's working with clients. He's done some of this over the years but not purposefully. In each instance, the client results were remarkable. I'm excited now that he sees this part of him as an asset to his main gig and he is looking at ways to fully integrate it in. He recently attended a workshop from a company that combines leadership with music, The Music Paradigm, which I'm sure has given him some new ideas.
I know of a software developer who specializes in computer animation. He works for a company that develops virtual worlds for kids (think Club Penguin.) Computer animation is a natural discipline for boundary crossers, because it relies on knowing both software development as well as the graphic arts. You have to be versed in both to be good at computer animation. Growing up, this person used to get frustrated when people told him he couldn't be good at both art and computer science (obviously, he was talking to inferior human beings.) Now, he's got the last laugh as the demand for his craft is growing. When he started out a few years ago, there were a handful of virtual worlds aimed at kids. Now, there are over 200.

BTW--This is a great way to "recession-proof" your work. The remarkable will win out over the mediocre in a down economy.

If you've been wondering how to bring all of yourself to your work, contact me. I'd love to give you a free consultation. Email me, carol [at] carolrossandassociates [dot] com or find me on Twitter (@carolross) or LinkedIn.

Social Media: Adventures in Boundary Crossing

2008-11-21T10:08:00-07:00

My newest venture, A Bigger Voice, is taking me into new worlds. For a glimpse into the world of social media gurus, check out my posting on attending the Thin Air Summit in Denver.

My thoughts and feelings before attending the conference:

Will I fit in?
High anxiety: What if I'm stuck in a room full of geeks?
A sense of adventure: What will I learn and who will I meet?

My thoughts and feelings after attending the conference:

Yes, I belong! These are people like me.
Gratefulness: I connected with lots of cool innovators who are showing me new worlds (thanks, Patti!)
An awareness of the importance of participating and being part of the larger conversation.

Boundary crossing isn't for everyone. And when it happens, it's really rewarding.

The Discomfort of Boundary Crossing

2008-10-08T04:36:13-06:00

It's been awhile since I've posted here. My apologies for the long silence. I've been spending much more time on my two other blogs, Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living, and A Bigger Voice. Which means I've been boundary crossing in the blogosphere.

I also did some boundary crossing yesterday, in person. I attended a networking event, a once a month luncheon with lots of suits--literally a sea of Baby Boomers in gray suits, who work in or service clients in Corporate America. The luncheon is hosted by a prominent athletic club, where club actually means wood paneled rooms and a hushed lobby.

It's not my usual place to hang out. In my new role as a social entrepreneur with A Bigger Voice, I became friends with one of the organizers of this monthly luncheon. He is passionate about turning business people onto the SE world. So I go. And connect. And fit in as best a boundary crosser can. Most days, I can pass. I know the language, the customs, the values. The woman at the front desk tells me I can go up to the ballroom where the meeting takes place.

Yesterday was one of those days when I was feeling the mis-fit more than the fit. The other service providers either see me as competition (as a coach and consultant) or have no use for me (why would a banker need a coach?). The C-levels in the room (CEO, CIO, CFO, CMO) think of social entrepreneurs as Boulder's answer to management for a granola company.

What's a girl to do?

These people don't read Seth Godin. They've barely heard of permission marketing. Forget understanding blogs. And yet, business is changing, even in their world.

So maybe there is a place for me after all. In bringing new media, new thinking, new models for working--to the suits.

Three Types of Boundary Crossers

2008-09-15T09:30:34-06:00

When I think back on the kinds of boundary crossers that I've run into, they seem to fall into three camps:

Individuals who have had a successful career in one area and a passionate hobby in another world (e.g., software developer during the week and musician on the weekends)
Individuals who are starting a career in one area (less than 5 years into it) and find that while they can continue on the current path, they need a "tweak" to make it fit. An example is a civil engineer who wants to focus more on work oriented to sustainable building.
Individuals who have had multiple jobs in different areas and feel like it's been a patchwork of things that haven't led to a clear career path. An example is someone who has changed jobs every couple of years, with not a lot of connection to the past job or upward mobility in the new job with each change.

In all three cases, the gold lies in carving out your own unique path. Each of the three cases has its own challenges:

In Case #1, the opportunity is in cross-pollinating between the two worlds, usually from the passionate hobby to the successful career. These are usually people who have found enough in their career to satisfy the boundary crosser in them--enough variety, enough new learning, enough challenge. And there's always more.

In Case #2, the challenge is to find the courage to seek out something new, when the current job isn't all that bad. Change comes a lot easier when the current state is painful. Not enough pain, not enough incentive to give up something that feels secure. These individuals sometimes find themselves doing a dance between what they really want and what they are willing to settle for.

In Case #3, these individuals experience the pain of not belonging. Yet, they see clearly their value in bringing new perspectives to the task at hand. These boundary crossers also have the burden of being labeled a dilettante. Surviving in this mode takes political savviness as well as an understanding of the culture of the current employer. Of all the types of boundary crossers, these are the ones who benefit the most by finding their unique voice in the world, where their talents and interests fill a pressing need in the marketplace. This is the place of the entrepreneur and intrapreneur, inventing services and roles that didn't exist before.

Persistence, making your own luck, and plenty of trial and error are all useful for boundary crossers to find their way in the world. Even more important is finding allies--people who "get" you, provide encouragement when the going gets tough, and help you flesh out that wild dream that's been nagging at you.

How does your situation mirror any of the three cases I've described? Or do you fall into another camp? What have you found to be especially helpful on your journey? Provide your comments below.

Crossing Boundaries is Worth the Risk

2008-07-06T16:48:52-06:00

I'm convinced that our most pressing problems as a society will be solved by boundary crossers, because it takes multiple perspectives and approaches to understand complex issues. An announcement about David Yarnold's appointment as Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, speaks to this point. Yarnold, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist turned environmental activist, was recently heralded by the president of Environmental Defense, as someone who "has shown great courage in completely crossing career fields -- something few people have the guts to even try -- and even fewer succeed at.”

Anatomy of a Boundary Crosser

2008-05-27T20:38:00-06:00

In a written interview with boundary crosser, Karl Iagnemma, I found some great quotes that speak directly to what it's like to operate in multiple worlds. Iagnemma is a robotics researcher at MIT as well as an award-winning fiction writer.

One of the gifts of boundary crossers is being able to see patterns across disciplines. Iagnemma illustrates this with his description of the creative process, as it applies to science and writing:

"The creative process is quite similar in both research—I think any type of research—and writing. Both start with a blank page and progress through formulating ideas and concepts, to refining these ideas, to finally getting the details right. So it's a process of increasingly structured creativity. And I've found that you get the same "micro-satisfactions" when you get individual elements right, and you get the same rush completing a major research task and completing a story. It's an uncanny similarity."

Boundary crossers not only see patterns across disciplines, but they are able to leverage what they know from one world to improve what happens in another world:

"When I first started writing, I didn't write about scientists at all. I think I wanted a break from that part of my world. But when I did start writing about researchers, I found the work that came out was much better than anything I'd ever done. And I think it was because I had a real investment and interest and deep knowledge of the material, of some of the issues that drive these kinds of people.

At this point, I can't imagine not writing about researchers, because I'm able to find a little bit of myself in every character I write about. And that's, I think, the key to good writing."

Boundary crossers are ideally suited to explore the intersection of two or more worlds. Iagnemma talks about the natural questions that come from scientific research and fiction writing:

"It is one of the central questions of my fiction, this coexistence of reason and passion, and the points in life where reason and passion collide. Research is a great vehicle to investigate it, because you have, on the surface, this rational, analytical discipline. But you also have people who are so invested in the research, so wrapped up in it, that they become extremely passionate. It's an interesting dichotomy."

And finally, I love how Iagnemma talks about his life as a "slash," where it's not about either/or but rather both/and:

"[Being a researcher and a writer are] different forms of enjoyment. Human beings have this depressing property; they can become desensitized to even the most pleasurable things. For me, being stimulated in radically different ways is great. It's wonderful to be able to do such different things on a daily basis."

"For me, as a young writer-slash-researcher, there was always a perception that I would have to choose between doing one or the other, that the research community wouldn't take me seriously if I was writing, and that as a writer there would be no time to have an intense day job.

But, you know, it's not true. There's time to do lots of things in life. And doing research certainly doesn't mean that you can't also be an artist or a musician or a writer or whatever else interests you. I hope that young people who are studying science won't get the sense that that's all that they can do, and that their minds will be closed to the arts."

On his website for his books, I got a kick out of reading at the bottom of the page: "Click here for Karl Iagnemma's robotics-related webpage."