A beginning is not a start...

applies to careers and telling stories

A few colleagues and I host a twitter space every Wednesday at 1:00 PM ET. We call our space Geospatial Connections and of course you are welcome to join. Topics evolve organically from the flotsam of what we see in our work weeks or newly seeded interests.The joke among us is that when we insert “storytelling” into the title the crowd swells to record numbers.

The irony is that few people know how to tell a story. We are hardwired to go back to the beginning and drag the rest of us along as hostages. This applies to careers as well. Where my professional life today began is quite different from how or when it started.

Breaking your career journey into pivots

I am not sure what they are called—vision boards perhaps? The Pinterest crowd envisions a life and collects a roadmap of artifacts to hopefully guide their way. A goal weight, a fantastic sofa, or a dream vacation, the sky appears to be the limit.

I fancy my career as starting once I mentally envisioned more of a bête noire. I summed it up at a recent keynote presentation as something along the lines of the following:

A recovering medical writer transitioning from a valued member of a medical technical team to an admin writing marketing copy for pharmaceutical clients with 3rd quarter goals on drugs that were still in flasks and Petri dishes embedded in pre-clinical considerations. This was not a specific n of 1 change—it has happened industry wide. The first thing you were asked (and probably still are) is your hourly rate. Last time I checked we were selling the outcomes not the dollars. The race to the bottom began with line-item budgets assigning to the lowest bidder.

The next phase highlights the fact that the skepticism was often mutual. When told to describe a ureter as a noodle I quit. The final phase describes the conference calls where requests for data were rebuked as heckling or being told not to worry about the “technical” stuff. When writing about hematopoietic stem cell transplantation isn’t it all technical? If I don’t have the data what indeed was I writing about?

The actual start?

The Executive Online Program at Columbia, Fu School of Engineering

Once I began exploring data and specifically location data and geospatial analysis everything fell into place. Never stop asking questions. Often, they are more informative than any answers.

Where do you find stories?

My brain catalogs stories on an endless loop. I am a huge fan of podcasts, documentaries, and brilliant storytelling. Patti Smith, Hannah Gadsby, and David Grohl for starters. The more you read or listen to non-fiction the more you can see the beauty of what made it work. And better yet, copy if for your own evolving template.

Collect interesting information. I learned something new this week on our weekly CommunityTwitter Space.

what3words

Instead of assigning coordinates of a location how about assigning 3 meter tiles and giving them a name—3 words.

Isn’t this great? You can travel and report back using the unique 3 word identifier—in English repeals.sailing.sang or the native French ///modératrice.crinière.figer.

I am already thinking of ways of incorporating the tool into a few presentations on the books. Stay connected and let’s see where this goes.

A few folks are more comfortable doing the irregularly regular Venmo donation. I see you. And I appreciate you. Here is a link and a heartfelt thanks.