Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
so how do you do it?
dieter | Nov 8 2005
Nothing like a descriptive subject line, eh? Sorry about that. Here's the situation. My day job, while quite good as these things go (pay is good, coworkers are great, that sort of thing), is kicking my ass in terms of my ability to be creative. The absolute last thing I want to do when I get home is sit in front of a computer for another moment, which sucks, given that I'm a web developer. This morning I was in a McDonalds (the McGriddle is a damned fine way to deal with angst), and I noticed that they had free wireless access. I found myself jealous of folks that get to hang out at Mickey D's all day long -- a feeling I haven't had to deal with since sixth grade. But a life free from corporate baloney sounds so wonderful that I'd be willing to put up with a higher cholesterol count. So how do you get the hell out of dodge, especially when you have a family? More fundamentally, how do you figure out exactly what you want to do, when you don't have Po Bronson on speed dial? I'm aware that the grass is always greener on the other side of the cubicle, and that working freelance (or something of that nature) brings with it a certain amount of its own baloney as well. So what are the options? How is baloney minimized and creativity maximized? I know I'm not breaking any new ground with these questions, but something has got to be working to some degree for somebody. Any thoughts? 10 Comments
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 The replies I'm getting on...Submitted by dieter on November 18, 2005 - 7:47am.
The replies I'm getting on this board are absolutely bowling me over. Thanks, everyone. In general, I'm trying to replace corporate with creative. And I know that those things don't have to be opposites, but in my experience they are to a degree. More specifically, I'm talking about the meetings-about-meetings, the concessions that must always be made to make sure that a given project is adhering to corporate policies, having to run things by legal, branding, and business units a-q before anything can happen, "we can't use Linux servers on this project because we have to spend X amount on Windows this year," and things of that nature. I do think that constraints can be healthy, but there's a limit somewhere in the rearview mirror. It just seems to me that big corporations by necessity introduce so many extra steps in any given process that innovation and real creativity can become a nice-to-have at best, when they should be the whole point. Of course, being a stooge also means a regular paycheck and a dental plan. There's the rub, I guess. The problem, for me, is compounded because I've been recently promoted to a management position. I do like being a leader, though I'm writing less code than I'd like, but the extra money is great. My hours and location (i.e. working from home) are no longer very flexible, but that's understandable -- I have to be around for the people who report to me. The problem is that asking to step back from here and into a coding position, or a contracting gig, etc., is career suicide. I've seen folks try it, and watched the company respond by putting the 10-foot poles away, if you know what I mean. So if I were to do something like this, I'd really have to start over. That prospect is actually very exciting to me, but I have to be careful. That's why I'm writing so many whiny-ass posts. I really like your "perfect day" suggestion, and I will definitely check out the Successful Consultant book, however. The idea of doing what you love, what you'd do for free, sounds more like prosperity to me than winning the lottery. Then again, maybe I just need to stop reading SvN. » POSTED IN:
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