Tag Archives: thanks

more things i am grateful for this year

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i think i can finally return to laughter now — to a bit of a lighter life now that i’ve made it through another rough spot in life

i am a lucky man in SO many ways, and i am truly grateful this Thanksgiving { and on a daily basis beyond official holidays and occasions } for all of it, for both the badness and the goodness i’ve experienced throughout my lifetime

i’ve been out of work now for 2 months — even while employed at my previous workplace, as much as any of us are totally grateful to even have a job in this economy, the environment was not exactly a kind one and i was not set up for success within an antiquated, low-vision establishment — needless to say, i was frustrated and the energies i had to deal with were not helpful in guiding me the right way, toward a more successful way of living and working within a very cliquey and xenophobic, rookie team

a burden was lifted a little when we decided that ‘it wasn’t a good fit’ and i moved on — i was happy to move on, too — i don’t believe in wasting my time or a company’s time just sucking a paycheck from an organization that doesn’t appreciate my talents and what i can do for their business like some sort of societal leech — i’m not going to ‘lay low’ and keep it all inside just to supposedly be a good employee, and if that’s what an organization wants out of their employees, then its definitely not a good fit for me — it just doesn’t seem productive, and the level of contribution an individual contributor is allowed to produce suffers both qualitatively and quantitatively, and not by the fault of that particular employee

anyhow — i just landed a new role at a fantastic company with people that i’ve worked with in the past that truly appreciate both my soft skills and the expertise and capabilities i bring to the table — i was empowered to lead and contribute at a MUCH higher level at the organization i’m joining and i know that my new aim to truly live up to the words i set out to own as a story-based force to guide my behavior and my participation and personality throughout my career moving forward

i have a deeper understanding of myself recently due to rigorous self-reflection and personal analysis, which will completely help me with everything i do both career-wise and otherwise along my life’s journey as well

i’m a better man now

and i am thankful for this downtime opportunity to do this difficult work and really dig into myself and learn and face big mysterious internal and external energies that have held me back or stifled me in the past

i’ve basically rediscovered pieces of myself

i’m re-assembling myself little by little, day by day by day

i feel lighter — not just in a physical weight kinda way, but also spiritually, emotionally, mentally

i enjoy my family more and more, and i enjoy even the dysfunctional dynamics that are sometimes quite naturally embedded in who we all are as human beings in the world

we live in a complicated place

we live in a broken world

and i’m even thankful for the opportunities and challenges this broken world offers up to me as a designer, as a father, as a husband, and ultimately as a citizen of the world

but i am most thankful for my family at this time of year — we all usually are — my family and my friends and my ability to almost find and rescue myself — to rediscover the person i am, who i was, and who i want to be

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moving on { from Mobiquity }

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so, its in a somewhat sad and self-reflective mood that i leave Mobiquity, the enterprise-class, start up mobile services agency i’ve worked for over the last year and a half out in Wellesley and Waltham

i truly love so much about Mobiquity

and my final decision to leave the organization, believe it or not, was not one made in great haste or with any sense of impulsivity or reactionary spirit on my part

this was a difficult decision, and i actually leave the firm for so many very excruciatingly painful reasons, many of which are purely personal and life-design related

as i leave, i would like to take a few moments to quickly bullet-list reflect on those positive aspects i can think about and keep with me in my heart and soul as i start a new chapter in my career

here are some Lessons Learned — nearly spiritual concepts and observations — i can bring with me and thank Mobiquity for as i move forward { and I am truly appreciative in every way for the opportunity to work at Mobiquity over the last 17 or so months of my life, its been truly wonderful in so many ways }:

  • hire, trust and empower truly amazing and talented people
  • think of your company { or your department } as a prototype and iteratively optimize the experience of the company using a truly human-centered design methodology
  • take the time to listen to each other, truly listen to each other
  • collaborate as often as possible, and do so with an eclectic human involvement in each project or process as often as possible — it is appsolutely VITAL to understand each and every business challenge involved in each engagement from as many unique perspectives { from the POV of Sales, Business, Design, Development and Delviery } as the organization can afford to invest into the flow of a project at every single step of the process
  • everything is far more complicated than it seems on paper, especially if what’s been put on paper is too vague at the beginning to promote any reasonable sense of business accountability on the part of each partner involved in the engagement
  • professionally drive and guide each process in both a thoughtful and respectful way as a true leader for each and every project / engagement / partnership / relationship
  • learn from both success and failure — its the only way to evolve and grow as an organization { and as professional, talented and honest individuals }, so do not be so utterly afraid of ‘The F Word’
  • transparency — much-like the terms innovation and collaboration — is overrated, under-delivered and over-promised { in other words, if you can’t truly be totally transparent as an organization, don’t even bring up the term, it only hurts everyone involved, including the company, at the end of the day }
  • do everything in the most human way possible — people really appreciate it when you take the time to just talk with them face-to-face or when you try to solve an unsmooth situation by doing everything within your truly human power to show you love what you do and you love and respect the people you’re currently collaborating with
  • live in the moment and appreciate the good and bad of: each and every moment; each and every challenge; each and every opportunity
  • everything is possible

i’ll admit, i’ve been learning some of these things along the way regardless of my shortish tenure with Mobiquity — but i’ve been driving to consciously communicate these fundamental discoveries and understandings of experience design and industry in general in a far more articulate and effective manner to help deepen my understanding of myself, my business and my approach

thanks again for these last 17 or so months at Mobiquity

while working with The Mob, i focused on personally promoting a professional sense of fun, collaborative energy while simultaneously bringing the work to a higher place — and as much as i felt like a complete failure to celebrate my departure from such an amazing collection of talented individuals over a glass of wine and some humorous toasts with the crew, i do feel that i, at the very least, accomplished and embodied those 2 concepts — collaborative fun-making and over the top, professional project results — while contributing at the highest level allowed by the organization

thank you Mobiquity

much continued hope, love, success and happiness

[: long live The Mob :]