Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
As is rather obvious by . . . well everything . . . I work hard to give career advice. It's possible you do as well, passing on hard-earned lessons to people so they can learn from you. A lot of us do it, some of us make a career or hobby out of it.
It's a great thing to do, but one warning is that you have to know the difference between Timely and Timeless.
In a tough job market we all want an edge. In a good job market we still want an edge since we want the best jobs. Either way we're all looking for that edge, that advantage, that something that'll give us a leg up to get the job, client, and career we're looking for.
It's probably why you're here reading this now.
We all know the standard things we're supposed to do – get educated, network, etc. We know all the edges we're supposed to have (even if we don't actually use them or acquire them). So I'd like to talk about one that is very important, one that you may or may not have, but may not be aware of.
Best of all it's an edge that's very powerful.
I love career brainstorming. I love how people dream up new ideas for jobs and careers, how they see paths they didn't see before, how they see old ideas in new ways. When I speak on careers or run brainstorming events, seeing what people dream up is amazing and enthralling.
You probably know what it's like to brainstorm for yourself as well – the research, the dreaming up new businesses and new places to work, coming up with new things to do. However you're also likely to restrain yourself a bit, hold back, look for quality ideas so as not to waste your time.
Don't.