A wonderful concept, Pat! Really enjoyed this essay because I currently feel like I am in a phase in my career where my curiosity is definitely demanding to be given attention and time to explore, which I am actively working myself to integrate in my day to day. So I am excited you gave me the sign to go with the flow to see what more I can offer!
Would you say that in your journey you found it difficult to integrate your new skills with your older ones or did you find it to be an organic cooperation that enriched your work experience overall?
For the most part I found that my explorations came together pretty seamlessly. While the leaps felt bigger at the moment, in retrospect I was mostly moving to adjacent skills so there was a lot of overlap.
Not every exploration has tied back into a professional thing for me though. Music is another hobby of mine that has stayed more separate. It still uses a similar part of my brain, but it's not as tidy a tie-in with my professional work.
Love that insight, Pat! I really appreciate you sharing that and taking the time to answer my question 😊
Also good for you for expanding your skills outside your work! Definitely a major win and something that you will definitely thank yourself for over time. As a creative person, I think it's very healthy to find ways to be creative without any association to profession. I think in the 'side hustle' age, many people feel pressured to make their hobby a money maker, and I have definitely felt like one of those people with a few skills I realized I was mastering for myself, not my career.
Love this. I'm a big believer in following your curiosity and seeing where it takes you. I studied industrial engineering, started off as a developer, discovered UX through some human factors courses I took, but also decided to complete an AI Engineering certificate at the same time. As you build more skills, you start building unique bridges between those areas which gives a you a more unique and creative perspective.
I love the idea of skills surging, Pat. Reading your post made me look back and I realized I've been skills surfing myself with our realizing it. For me the path was along time lines of corporate finance -> VC investing -> business design -> coding -> product design -> product management (and now watch me make a full circle back to finance 😆).
What I've noticed in my journey, and I spot the same in yours, is that there is usually a thread. It's not always visible but it's there. In my case, it's been around how to build successful businesses. In your case, it sounds like it's been around product building.
I think this is where the key to success lies in skill surfing. It's a good idea the skills to be adjacent, or at least existing in adjacent domains. For example, coding and product design are adjacent. In many ways they are even complimentary. Writing is adjacent to product design. In fact, many will argue writing is a form of design.
Thank you for writing this. Looking forward to the next one.
100% with you Vic. That's a great call out. While the jumps felt big at the time in retrospect I was clearly pulling on a common thread which led me to adjacent skills that complemented each other well. Because of that, there were always more transferrable skills from one to the next than I imagined.
Your path is fascinating! Sounds like building some kind of finance product might be in your future 🔮.
Nice post! I can definitely relate to your experience. I would say my career trajectory has been pretty atypical. Each role brings unique experience, and in some ways, I think allow for honing in on what brings you the most satisfaction. I've been studying Renaissance lute as a hobby for almost seven years. Surprisingly, that experience and dedication has enabled me to start finding students and start a nice little side hustle. Moral of the story: follow your passions; give them time to mature. Enjoy the rewards when they come, but don't go into an endeavor strictly for a perceived reward—you'll need more than just a desire of payoff to get you there.
A wonderful concept, Pat! Really enjoyed this essay because I currently feel like I am in a phase in my career where my curiosity is definitely demanding to be given attention and time to explore, which I am actively working myself to integrate in my day to day. So I am excited you gave me the sign to go with the flow to see what more I can offer!
Would you say that in your journey you found it difficult to integrate your new skills with your older ones or did you find it to be an organic cooperation that enriched your work experience overall?
That's great, Kharissa! Go for it!
For the most part I found that my explorations came together pretty seamlessly. While the leaps felt bigger at the moment, in retrospect I was mostly moving to adjacent skills so there was a lot of overlap.
Not every exploration has tied back into a professional thing for me though. Music is another hobby of mine that has stayed more separate. It still uses a similar part of my brain, but it's not as tidy a tie-in with my professional work.
Love that insight, Pat! I really appreciate you sharing that and taking the time to answer my question 😊
Also good for you for expanding your skills outside your work! Definitely a major win and something that you will definitely thank yourself for over time. As a creative person, I think it's very healthy to find ways to be creative without any association to profession. I think in the 'side hustle' age, many people feel pressured to make their hobby a money maker, and I have definitely felt like one of those people with a few skills I realized I was mastering for myself, not my career.
Love this. I'm a big believer in following your curiosity and seeing where it takes you. I studied industrial engineering, started off as a developer, discovered UX through some human factors courses I took, but also decided to complete an AI Engineering certificate at the same time. As you build more skills, you start building unique bridges between those areas which gives a you a more unique and creative perspective.
Thanks for the shoutout, Pat!
Love the idea of building bridges between areas. That's the good stuff!
And you're welcome!
Great article, thanks for sharing. Looking back over my long career in design I think I’ve been a skill surfer. Although I never realised it.
Awesome. You should write about your journey Dereck!
I love the idea of skills surging, Pat. Reading your post made me look back and I realized I've been skills surfing myself with our realizing it. For me the path was along time lines of corporate finance -> VC investing -> business design -> coding -> product design -> product management (and now watch me make a full circle back to finance 😆).
What I've noticed in my journey, and I spot the same in yours, is that there is usually a thread. It's not always visible but it's there. In my case, it's been around how to build successful businesses. In your case, it sounds like it's been around product building.
I think this is where the key to success lies in skill surfing. It's a good idea the skills to be adjacent, or at least existing in adjacent domains. For example, coding and product design are adjacent. In many ways they are even complimentary. Writing is adjacent to product design. In fact, many will argue writing is a form of design.
Thank you for writing this. Looking forward to the next one.
100% with you Vic. That's a great call out. While the jumps felt big at the time in retrospect I was clearly pulling on a common thread which led me to adjacent skills that complemented each other well. Because of that, there were always more transferrable skills from one to the next than I imagined.
Your path is fascinating! Sounds like building some kind of finance product might be in your future 🔮.
Nice post! I can definitely relate to your experience. I would say my career trajectory has been pretty atypical. Each role brings unique experience, and in some ways, I think allow for honing in on what brings you the most satisfaction. I've been studying Renaissance lute as a hobby for almost seven years. Surprisingly, that experience and dedication has enabled me to start finding students and start a nice little side hustle. Moral of the story: follow your passions; give them time to mature. Enjoy the rewards when they come, but don't go into an endeavor strictly for a perceived reward—you'll need more than just a desire of payoff to get you there.
Love that Collier. Thanks for sharing! 🙌