Turtle branding

I have a friend who has a turtle collection. Not live turtles, mind. Not even a collection of one type of thing. He just always liked turtles, and has little turtle statues, pictures, stickers, etc. all over his house.

When I asked him about his collection, he told me that of all the dozens of things in his turtle collection, he only bought three or four of the pieces himself. The rest were all gifts.

To have amassed such a collection without having to pay for it, I mused aloud, must have taken quite a concerted effort. He laughed and told me, “I’m not even sure how it happened. I like turtles, is all.”

It started with his cousin. His cousin knew he liked turtles from them watching Finding Nemo together as kids over and over. My friend had a few turtle tchotchkes on a shelf in his room, so when his cousin went on vacation to the Cayman Islands he stopped at the Cayman Turtle Center. There he got a little turtle in a snow globe with “Grand Cayman” on the base and brought it back for my friend.

And so it went over the years. A fridge magnet from Turtle Beach, an abstract turtle painting done by a spray can artist in Las Vegas. Turtles coming from all corners of the world. Next thing you know, he’s the “Turtle Guy” and people know you for liking turtles. He acquired a brand from basically nothing.

So that got me thinking: this calls back to the popular book “The Secret”. I’ve not read that book, but the gist of what I know is “What you think about is attracted to you.” Think about positive things, and you get positive things. Think about negative things, and you get negative things. Think about turtles, and you get… more turtles.

A few lessons:

• From the people that know you, you get back what you project. “I like turtles” yields turtles from all over the world. It attracts the things you like to you.
• Becoming “the turtle person” takes patience. Collections, and reputations, aren’t amassed in a short time. They aggregate over time.
• This lesson doesn’t just apply to becoming the dog lover in the family, or the person who really digs insects, or the guy who wears science ties, but it applies in business, too.

That last point is where we hook back into our regularly scheduled column.

If you want to do more of something, if you want to receive more of something, intentionally project the thing you want more of. I’ve said before, “If you want to write, write” and that you’re not going to become a woodworker if you never pick up a saw.

As a developer, what does that mean? If you really like working in Javascript, volunteer early and often for the Javascript stories. Read books about coding better Javascript. Show the office you’re a fan with Javascript framework stickers on your laptop. Assume the mantle of the “Javascript person”. Go to Javascript meetups in your area. Volunteer to give a Javascript talk at a meetup. Do that, and people will start bringing you Javascript: projects, stickers, jobs, whatever.

Further, if you don’t want to be “the turtle person,” you have to hide your turtles so that people know not to associate turtles with you anymore. This is also a slow process, as memories can have a long tail. You can’t undo who you are perceived to be overnight. People who have known you as the turtle person your whole life will have a hard time thinking of you as anything but.

Your legacy turtles can also make it difficult to make the transition from Developer to Manager or Architect. If people know you as one thing, and you become another thing, expect minds to be blown as you expand into your new role.

The point is to become known for what you want to be, and you’ll get there. Ensure that the things you don’t want in your life don’t get much of your time and attention so they don’t accrue to you.

On that note, if you’ve read a few of my columns, you’ll note that I’m interested in a particular type of company. Companies that run like startups, companies that are smaller and agile, companies that foster communication and internal dev communities. Companies that have explicit values, companies that let you think like an owner, companies that embrace remote work, and those that know how to delegate purchasing decisions well by cost and risk. Companies that think about the business of business and continuous improvement.

Are you in a company like this? I’d love to learn more! Ping me on ThatSlack (I’m @kpd) or email me (kevin@THATConference.com) and let’s chat!