Posts Tagged ‘Ten Speed Press’

Co-authors Emily Bennington and Skip Lineberg, two influential bloggers and speakers in the business world, have written Effective Immediately (Ten Speed Press, 2010), a valuable guide for recent graduates who, as the subtitle says, want to “Fit In, Stand Out, and Move Up at Your First Real Job.” As an instructor to college students majoring in business, I have learned that most of them lean towards taking the fitting in approach, when in fact the combination strategy of fitting in and standing out — deftly selecting times to blend in or make compromises, and yet seizing the opportunities to be creative or call attention to yourself — is actually one of the surest roads to success. And by success I mean being able both to contribute to your team and advance and improve yourself on a fairly regular basis.

“Find your inner Gene Kelly” is lyrical advice. The authors examine Gene Kelly’s dancing in attempt to discover what made him seem to “float” above the his peers. They claim his edge was “incremental,” noting that small things, like the consistent polish of his shoes, the angle of his cane, and the crease in his pants made all the difference. That attention to small detail, taken together “seemed to make his dancing effortless.”

The theory of the incremental edge, by the way, echoes one of Malcolm Gladwell’s key arguments in The Tipping Point: that small changes in presentation can often make  a big difference when it comes increasing the appeal — and ultimate impact — of an idea or product. You just have to figure out what changes to make depending on your audience.

Among Bennington and Lineberg’s list of sample “Gene Kelly dance steps:”

• Use superb grammar (hooray for that!)
• Complete assignments early
• Give a small gift to your clients (your favorite business book or flowers) on the anniversary of your partnership
• Keep your desk spotless at all times.

If you — like me — consider that last item  too tall an order, come up with your own deft moves. It’s a fun exercise and, as they say, incrementally, but also immediately, effective.

“How to Get Any Job: Life Launch and Relaunch for Everyone Under 30,” by Donald Asher (Ten Speed Press, 2002 & 2009) aims to advise college-aged people on their future careers. He structures workshops for the readers to figure out what they’re all about, throws in some anecdotes to support his workshops, and ties it all together with economic advice.

Asher recommends that we take our time now to figure out what we want, because we have yet to be indoctrinated in the “adult working world.” He says to hold out for an ideal opportunity, instead of taking what you can, and chastises us losers who live in our parent’s basements.

He has some good advice, but he didn’t realize how expensive housing would become (as compared to the book’s first printing in 2002), the growing unemployment rate, and the fact that most of today’s college kids have been in the “adult working world” since they were 14. The economy is changing, and here’s how to confront it:

1. Living as a team is the new recipe for success: Living in your parent’s basement isn’t the travesty it used to be. To save on funds, many grads are opting to live with their parents. You are no longer weird for wanting to save money!

2. Take what you can get: We typically want to start an actual career right out of college. But what do you do when people who have worked in your field for twenty years are suffering massive layoffs? There are also lapses in insurance to think about. You may want to think about having a “day” job with benefits, while you pursue your passion in your off time.

3. Get creative: Perhaps Asher was able to wait around for his career opportunities, but we can’t. If you want a job, sometimes you just have to invent one for yourself.

If you want a career, sometimes you have to invent your own path. Try taking more responsibilities on at your current job. For example, if you’re a future editor working at a minimum wage job, offer to edit the training manual. I know a fellow who works in data entry that just got a raise for using his IT knowledge. Otherwise, you can always contract your skills privately or start your own business