I’m A Creative Type, How About You?

Before you read any further, you should take this short and free color test.

Not a day goes by that I don’t click on an excellent link from @GuyKawasaki, and this afternoon I was led to this USA Today article. It’s been obvious to me for awhile that I march to tbe beat of a idfferent drum, so I was eager to see what this test would say about me.

Best Occupational Category

You’re a CREATOR

Keywords

Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.

2nd Best Occupational Category

You’re an ORGANIZER

Keywords:

Self-Control, Practical, Self-Contained, Orderly, Systematic, Precise, and Accurate

These conservative appearing, plotting-types enjoy organizing, data systems, accounting, detail, and accuracy. They often enjoy mathematics and data management activities such as accounting and investment management. Persistence and patience allows them to do detailed paperwork, operate office machines, write business reports, and make charts and graphs.

As I read through the results, and thought about past jobs I’ve had and what I like to do now, they seem to be spot on. I love creating things, and when I’m designing things, whether a web site or a brochure, I look at the finest details of various fonts so I can find just the right one. At the same time, the less rigid the work environment, the more likely I am to not only enjoy it, but be more productive.

When I look at the recommended careers, it should come as no surprise that over the past few years, through some form or another, I’ve had significant experiences in advertising, web design, public relations, music, reporting, photography, corporate training, editing, and concert halls.  I find myself continuously pursuing opportunities that allow me to be creative and solve unique problems.

Perhaps this is why some people have such a hard time understanding and connecting with me. I have a tendency to do random and completely unorthodox things simply because I can. I resist a typical 9 to 5 not just because I lose a lot of flexibility to do other things, but because that’s what everyone else does.

It’s also likely why I can sometimes struggle to communicate with others. I have a tendency to see the big picture and where something is headed, but I see it so far ahead of others that I don’t know how to explain it all to them in terms they can understand. Maybe that why I enjoy Twitter so much, it’s filled with other people are creative, see what’s coming before others do, and all the while try to find the next big thing.

Go ahead, take the quick color test, then take a moment to comment below. What does it reveal about you? Do you think it’s fairly accurate?

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Proper Date Conduct: Treating Ladies Right

Dear Internet,

I recently went on a date. For those who know me well, you already know that this does not happen often. For those who know me really well, you already know that I wasn’t sure if it was a date when it started.

How can I not know if it’s a date? Well, maybe it’s because I go on so few of them that I’m not totally sure what constitutes a date. Maybe it’s because I have a deep desire to get to know someone before we start dating (but trust me, there was no shortage of communication between us after we first met), and the date happened relatively quickly after we met. How did I realize it was a date? I went with my initial feeling of ‘we’re hanging out,’ but having no oppositon to it being a date if she called it such. Later that night, she referred to it as a date, so I’m going with that. I doubt she realized that’s how I was going about the evening, but I have only one regret about it.

But, internet, I’m getting sidetracked. This is a touchy subject in today’s culture, how should a guy treat a girl on a date? What’s the proper conduct?

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m an old school kind of guy. Open the door for her, properly escort her from place to place (I bring this up because we walked across a lot of ice, don’t let her fall), hug or not (again, old school, take it very slow with the kissing), give her your jacket when she’s cold (her teeth were chattering, so I went out in my t-shirt, despite her objections and insistence I wear the jacket), should I pay for everything myself? But what if she doesn’t want that treatment?

This is where it gets tricky, I think. It seems to me that some girls have been through some stuff in their lives, and are fiercely independent. Maybe they don’t want the door opened for them. They might think they didn’t prepare for the night well enough if I give them might jacket. Some modern women are just very self sufficient, and feel a bit insulted if us guys do too much for them. Others may be insulted if we don’t do those things for them. Others might not care one way or another, and just think that it’s sweet.

My use of social media makes things dicey too. I can’t help myself. I’m a smart guy, so I keep things vague, you’d have to know one of us pretty well to really figure anything out, but I don’t exactly hold back from hopping on Twitter/Facebook and say I’m going out with a girl tonight. Definitely don’t say anything I might regret later. But all my online friends really know is I’m going out, I’m a bit nervous/excited, and she’s smart and pretty.

People I talk to face to face, however, know more. It’s a more personal connection when I can see them, and I know I can trust them. I’m sure she’s told some of her friends about the night too (hopefully good things).

Anyway, how should us guys act on a date? I consider myself a chivalrous guy, and want to act as such, but I don’t want my date to feel uncomfortable either.

Maybe I’m over thinking it. Maybe all guys wonder about this stuff, and we just don’t talk about it. I don’t know, I’m just expressing a lot of stuff that’s been mixing through my head more than usual for about 4 days.

What was my 1 regret from the date? I didn’t start it by praying with her. Say whatever you want about me, I’m counter cultural like that, so deal with it. It’s simply something I decided I wanted to do while reading Joshua Harris’s excellent book, Boy Meets Girl. Fellow believers in Christ should understand, if the rest of the world doesn’t, that’s fine.

Regardless of how you feel about the previous paragraph, please comment here about what you think. Talk about me as much as you want, but if you know who the girl I was out with is, please respect her privacy and leave her name and any identifying details out of the conversation. Just because I live on the internet doesn’t mean everyone else does.

Thanks internet,

Shawn

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10 Things We Didn’t Have 10 Years Ago

Happy New Year everybody! Welcome to 2010. Twitter has been abuzz with people saying stuff about #10YearsAgo. As for myself, 10 years ago I was a freshman in high school, using the family’s Performa 575, and not even a dial up connection at home. A lot has changed, as I’ve been through several computers (still a Mac guy, but presently running Windows 7, with about a 15Mbps connection to the world), spent some time in college, spent some time in Iraq, and spent a lot of time figuring out how to move forward in this rapidly changing world we live in.

Anyway, after seeing some stuff throughout the day, I’ve been inspired to make a short list of 10 things that we didn’t have 10 years ago.

1. Gmail – Released in 2004, Google changed the way we email. Do you remember 10 years ago? No way I could go through the amount of email I do, as quickly as I do, with what we used back then.
2. YouTube – Founded in 2005, and since purchased by Google, millions of people have gone on to use video creatively and share it with the world.
3. Hulu – We’ve had easier access to TV shows and select movies since 2007 with Hulu’s arrival. For many, this has provided access to TV shows they didn’t get on cable.
4. iPod – Apple dropped a bomb in late 2001 when they announced the iPod. The music industry will never be the same.
5. PS2/PS3/Xbox/Xbox360/Wii – Gaming has taken a flying leap forward with the releases in 2000/2006/2001/2005/2006. Advancing all the way to high def and physical activity, we’ve come a long way from Pong.
6. Mac OS X – The public beta came out late 2000, and brought a dramatic shift to the user interface of operating systems. This also paved the way for Apple’s transition to Intel processors.
7. Windows XP/Vista/7 – Windows finally broke out and ditched the gray interface this decade, progressing in 2001/2006/2009. Microsoft has truly seen the light of Apple, and gradually makes everything a little easier to use, even if a lot of it has obvious inspiration.
8. Twitter – Only here since 2007, Twitter is changing how people communicate with each other, how businesses communicate with customers, and how social media is done.
9. Facebook – Launched in 2004, they have rapidly grown to become not only the largest social network in America, but cash flow positive too.
10. WordPress – Millions of websites are based on it now, but WordPress wasn’t released until 2003.

What do you love today that wasn’t here 10 years ago? Take a look around, you might be surprised .

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Education, Yes. Diploma, No.

As does much of my inspiration, today’s post comes via Twitter. More specifically, a retweet that led me to a wonderful post by Sarah Austin (why don’t any pretty, geeky girls live in ND?).

I’m torn on the issue of whether or not a diploma is necessary. On one hand, my level of geeky knowledge is enough to start out nearly anywhere, and my ability to learn can quickly advance me. On the other hand, it seems no level of geeky knowledge is enough for anyone in ND to outright hire you off the street without a diploma, you need to get your foot in the door some other way. Of course, not all educations are created equal. I learned more about computers and technology reading magazines after school in 5th grade than I did in 3 semesters at college. What I learned back then was more advanced too. Of course, there were still kids in college who struggled with what was being taught. This is the benefit a ND High School has given me.

Most disturbing to me about diplomas is just how little some of the graduates actually know. They can study all they want, memorize everything they need to know for the test, but they need to remember it when they leave. I had a friend who graduated with a business degree after 5 years of school. In a casual conversation with him, I discovered he didn’t know what ROI meant (Return On Investment). That’s an #EPICFAIL for a business student, it’s the basics. I challenge you to find a business magazine that doesn’t refer to ROI, much less an actual business environment.

The internet has opened doors. Graphic Design, check. Typography, check. Web Development, check. Social Media, check. Marketing, check. Blah Blah Blah, check. I can learn more essential information, more easily, more quickly, and remember it better with a couple hours spent online than by spending a month in a classroom. If I have a perplexing question, someone on Twitter or Linkedin is bound to have an answer for me sooner rather than later.

The internet is still a bit behind in some areas though. You can study the Bible a lot on your own, go through numerous studies, watch a plethora of podcasts, but you’re still better off learning Greek and Hebrew and how to translate at seminary. Likewise, I’d prefer the guy drawing up blueprints for my house have more formal training than a 2 week course he did in his basement.

But for many things, especially technology and any creative arts using a computer, a diploma is becoming increasingly worthless. Everything is changing so quickly, that half of what you learned in your first year of school is irrelevant by the time you’re in year 3.  As pointed out by Esther Schindler, if you couldn’t see the name on the resume, many of the brightest minds of the last few decades couldn’t teach a class on subjects they pioneered because they didn’t get a college degree. Names that spring to mind include Steve Jobs (revolutionized 4 industries), Steve Wozniak (brought the Personal Computer to the masses), Bill Gates (developed some of the most widely used software in the world), and Mark Zuckerberg (key player in developing an industry that knocked porn off as the #1 use of time online). HR departments need to spend less time looking for reasons not to hire you and more time looking for the diamond in the rough.

Furthermore, as culture has changed, the University System largely does things the same way they did 500 years ago. Consider the contrasting by openeducation.net.

“Students are inside a classroom (tethered to a place), using textbooks and handouts (printed materials), they must pay tuition and register to attend (the experience is closed), talking during class or working with others outside of class is generally discouraged (each student is isolated though surrounded by peers), each student receives exactly the same instruction as each of her classmates (the information presented is generic), and students are students and do not participate in the teaching process (they are consumers).”

…..

“From her dorm room / the student center / a coffee shop / the bus a student connects to the Internet using her laptop (she is mobile), uses Google to find a relevant web page (a digital resource which is open for her to access). While carrying out her search, she chats with one friend on the phone and another using instant messaging to see if they can assist in her search (she is connected to other people), she follows links from one website to another exploring related information (the content is connected to other content), she quickly finds exactly the information she needs, ignoring irrelevant material (she gets what is important to her personally), and she shares her find with her friends by phone and IM (she participates in the teaching process).”

As Steve Wozniak told Sarah Austin, “…the only reason I should get a degree is so I can tell my kids to get a degree.” It’s all about the education. The kid you just decided not to hire may be poor, unable to afford school, but spent his down time going through a 4 year program on MIT’s OpenCourseWare. Same education, but no diploma. Or maybe he’s just brilliant and you don’t realize it yet, just as one of Zuckerberg’s old professors admits to trying to talk him out of the pointless Facebook concept.

So what are your thoughts? Is a diploma still worth it?

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