What’s your ideal position?

I have a lot of baggage around this question

About this series: Looking for my next adventure I’m participating in more interviews wherein I get asked questions that cause me to reflect a bit. These are those reflections. Note: These may not be the responses I actually gave.

This is actually a great question to ask. Having said that, I find it fascinating how often humans equate an ideal with a dealbreaker.

It’s happened to me in dating:

“When you think of the ideal future, what does that look like.”

Having played coach on myself enough times I not only know this answer but I have it written down.

“I don’t see myself in that future.”

“I’m almost 40 years old and that future hasn’t happened. You asked for the ideal, not what I would be content with. Ideally, war and jealousy would not exist, but I don’t get tied in knots over the fact they do.”

It’s happened to me on internal job interviews:

“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Not in Ohio,” which also meant not with the employer.

“Well, you could see how that could be disconcerting, right? We’re going to invest in you only for you to leave.”

“Well, I didn’t plan on being in Ohio for 16 years and employed here for the 6 years I already have; so, it may not ever happen, if history is any indication but you did ask.”

And I get it. They want a sense of certainty and security, false though it might be, when it comes to a future reality based on their own desires, which they absolutely cannot command, control, and predict.

Anyway, you get the point, I got baggage.

And, when people ask me for my “ideal” anything, I give the caveat: There’s a big difference between the dream and what I will be content (or even happy) with.

So, without further ado, and invoking all the values in the Scrum Guide (commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect), here we go.

Content

I would like to be in a position that allows me to:

1. Earn revenue that is enough to pay my obligations and allows me to visit those I care for deeply.
2. Afford relatively healthy meals.
3. Have a roof over my head; not homeless or living in my car again.
4. Take credit for the things I create or help to create.

That’s it. Only the first one is a dealbreaker (if I don’t have it, then I’m out). And I’ve actually already run that experiment to confirm I can handle it.

But, what position do you want?

Labels. Job titles. Pet names. I have baggage around these as well but will spare you the details for now.

This is the way I used to answer the question. I figured if I had a prioritized list maybe that would open up the options compared to the ideal and the cognitive bias that brings with it.

1. Agile Coach/Scrum Master
2. User Experience, architect, project manager
3. Software developer
4. Anything else that helps me stay content. (See previous section.)

I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve heard “just don’t have any Scrum Master positions right now”…despite the fact the list includes anything. Will I be there for 20 years doing that job? Probably not (I would hope for a promotion at some point. I usually get promoted or lateraled after a year or two anyway). Will I do it to the best of my ability? Absolutely. Will the results be good? Most likely.

Whether I’m working as a file clerk, day labor building and remodeling houses, or website developer, I want to deliver the most value I can to the end-users.

But what’s the ideal!?

Richard Branson posted a quote (not one of his) on LinkedIn that read something like: If your dreams don’t scare you, then they’re not big enough. There’s truth in that.

Crisp, a consulting firm with a similar model to 8fold who also inspired a coupla things for 8fold via their Crisp DNA, wrote an article describing different types of consultants; seal, albatross, duck, and anglerfish.

I’m primarily a duck and occasionally an albatross, which is to say that I don’t dive deep and stay with one client or employer for extended periods of time (not always by choice). In fact, this latest adventure seeking exercise made me become aware of a pattern regarding my life earning revenue; and it wasn’t intentional.

My life has unintentionally become like Stefan Sagmeister’s studio. Every 7 years Stefan closes the studio for a year. My life is on a different time table though; 3–1. Basically, I tend to work somewhere for three years and grow and stretch into my discomfort zone a lot, then I end up taking a position that’s a bit more relaxing for a year, repeat (interesting correlation with the mastery curve or more completely correct the S-Curve).

It was so weird to fully realize this pattern in my life.

• From 98 to 01: Retail full-time. First job interacting with customers. Learned about patience, iteration, and optimization; specifically responses to customers. Offered a web designer gig, which I had been doing in my spare time. Web designer gig ended before it began thanks to the dot com bubble bursting in my face. I did not go back to retail.
• From 01 to 02: I did a few odd jobs. First introduction to freelance work doing web development. First introduction to not getting paid for freelance work. First time learning how to seriously write code. Drafted a business plan for which 8fold is the light version of right now. Got really depressed.
• From 02 to 04: Credit union full-time. Started college full-time. Fell in love with philosophy. Fell in love with standing at my desk after putting my keyboard on top of my monitor. Learned how to run a project in a safe environment. Moved to Savannah so I could attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Resigned from the credit union as they had no offices there.
• From 04 to 05: Started SCAD as a full-time visual effects major with an academic scholarship. I learned what friendly competition feels like. I learned I had a knack for storytelling. I learned I enjoyed helping others better themselves without tainting them with becoming me. I learned what it’s like to have a nervous breakdown after losing someone you care for deeply. I moved back to Ohio.
• From 05 to 07: Credit union full-time. University full-time to finish my degree. Started job search with no idea how to do it. Learned how it felt to receive 200+ rejection letters (not including those who didn’t respond). Learned how to prepare an art exhibit — twice. Learned what it was like to jump without a net. Came up with my favorite line regarding courage when a coworker complimented me on my courage: There’s a fine line between courage and stupidity. I resigned, borrowed first month’s rent from my father, friends gave me gas money, and I moved to Atlanta.
• From 07 to 08: Construction full-time. Started The Portfolio Center to up my design and marketing game. Learned more about friendly competition. Learned that I was way off my game. After an interesting series of events, I started freelancing with a few clients.
• From 08 to 10: Freelanced full-time. Learned what it was like to be loved by your clients. Learned even more about time management and productivity. Projects and money dried up and I had never intended freelancing to be a long term solution, maybe I should have.
• From 10 to 11: Freelanced and worked for the Census Bureau on the 2010 Census. Learned what it was like living in my car. Learned what it was like to get a promotion. Learned what it was like to ask for a promotion. Learned what it was to lead a team and prioritize work for a team. Learned what it was like to remove impediments for the team (because our impediments meant people weren’t getting paid). Informally learned about kanban and tracking the flow of work. After 3 or 4 operations I received a call from a recruiter to become a Content Publisher for WebMD, which basically meant I copied and pasted from a document into a custom CMS they had built. Got an apartment.
• From 11 to 13: Consultant full-time. Learned how to do technical writing, remove impediments, and improve processes. Further, I learned how to build training materials, write instructional material, and give training classes. Then I transitioned to an internal project with the same employer as “the UX guy.” Formally learned about Agile Software Development, which was easy enough for me to grasp given my history…didn’t have to mindset shift, more like fill in the gaps; so, learned about Agile Software Development. Learned how to start a formal company. Learned how to design, develop, and release an app to the Apple App Store (and Google Play but I was not the primary one doing that). The company I worked for was bought out and I got laid off (no UXers needed).
• From 13 to 14: Developer full-time. Learned more about coaching and working on a team. Learned more about Agile Software Development in my spare time. Learned that I can last about 8 weeks at almost 80 hours a week before I get really upset; therefore, I learned how to say no and express boundaries at the workplace. I resigned and went back to my previous employer.
• From 15 to 17: Consultant full-time. Started as a technical editor again. Was made the informal lead of a team for improving acquisition document style and content. Learned enough Visual Basic to give an update to an Access Database a GUI (after the user expressed how painful it was to work with). Learned how to facilitate a team meeting in such a way to go from arguing and yelling to respectful discourse (even outside the meeting). Learned what it was like to work two contracts at the same time while working for someone else. Learned what it was like to be on an Agile transformation. Learned what it was like to be the informal Agile Coach for a team. Experimented with a meeting facilitation to get agreements established for the team. Demonstrated our frustrations to business after accomplishing in three weeks what others had been trying to develop for a year. Got promoted from “the UX guy” to being the front end architect, the front end technical lead, the front end Scrum Master, and the Scrum Master for a team — they didn’t know one thing to call me; so, they just gave me all the names to cover what I was doing. More experiments with my team; many of those results were adopted at the program level. Contract ended and I got laid off.
• From 17 to 18: Consultant full-time; actually on the same program I was just on (welcome to the world of contracting). Removed impediments and tried to coordinate that efforts of one or two developers from six or seven teams comprised of three or four vendors. Learned how to communicate a roadmap after inspiring incremental changes to workable solution. For various reasons, including lack of funding, the client canceled the contract and will not be offering it again. So, getting laid off again. Nature of this type of consulting.

The dates might be a bit off due to late and early in the year…but the point here is to illustrate the 3–1 pattern. Not only that but I tend to move every coupla years whether it’s in the same state or not.

So, that was possibly the longest setup ever for the ideal.

The uber-detailed version of this story can wait. The content and position sections still apply and…I want to see the world, just not two weeks at a time.

So, yeah. Work in Atlanta for a few years. Move to New Zealand for a few more. Japan for a few more. Back to Portland for a few more. One company, four companies, my own…doesn’t really matter. As much as I don’t like determinism, this seems to be the pattern, might as well take full, deliberate advantage if I can.

Permanent employee or contractor?

This question comes with the “ideal” because some people only do contracts and others only do permanent. I prefer to have options and figure out a win-win scenario for all involved; so, 1099, corp-to-corp, W2 contract, W2 permanent, or some other weird thing we’ve come up with over the years, I’m willing to discuss and am setup to easily accommodate. Having said that, the reality is that there’s no such thing as permanent employment (see previous section).

I’ve resigned. I’ve been laid off. Haven’t been fired yet but that’s an option. We have transitioned pretty firmly into the time of the transient employee — with benefits and drawbacks for all.

That manager who said she was concerned I wouldn’t be there in five years was pretty surprised when the person she did promote left after one. She was surprised again when the other person she promoted into the same position was gone after two. And, she wasn’t there just a year or two after I left.

At the end of the day, I want to help others help themselves and reduce suffering in the world. I am willing to do so with a single client for as long as we are both helping each other grow and improve. I am willing to do it with 50 clients, one hour at a time. I am also willing to discuss doing so under whatever legal arrangement we have available to us.

So, that’s the really long answer to the question, having said that, the ideal position starts with:

I want to earn revenue that is enough to pay my obligations and allows me to visit those I care for deeply.