Are you sitting at your desk, staring at your screen and already asking yourself how you came to be surrounded by a sea of soul sucking cubicles?
A few weeks ago, a very dear friend who (like us all) periodically struggles to juggle family, career and other commitments was told by a superior that he could either have a successful career or a family – not both. The frank implication of the message was that he needed to jettison his family if he was going to move up the corporate ladder. While the message seems rather blunt, it’s strangely familiar. For those of us who have studied Architecture it’s not the first time we’ve heard it.Architecture school requires an extraordinary commitment of time, and this often comes at the expense of other relationships and experiences. As we work countless hours in studio surrounded by equally dedicated classmates, we indirectly learn that it’s not just appropriate – but even noble to “suffer” for our art. And then we finish our studies, hopeful and full of expectation believing that through our creative passions we will eventually improve the order of things. But as is often the case, deeply creative people soon find themselves at odds with the kinds of organizations that employ them:
“A large organization’s first order of business is the preservation of the organization. From my experience this is frequently believed to be accomplished by developing rigid structures, dependable formulas and a bias that favors loyalty over competence.”
You may not yet know what deeply inspires you, but knowing what doesn’t is an important start; identifying restrictions is an important part of any design process. Yet learning to say “no” is something very difficult if you’re a passionate, creative person that is driven by the innate desire to preform (regardless of compensation).
Bottom Line? Keep doing what you’re doing and the most you’ll ever accomplish is becoming that guy down the hall in the corner office. And then you’ll die. And your kids will follow in your footsteps. And they’ll wash, rinse and repeat with your grand kids…ad nauseum.
So unless you really dream of becoming that guy down the hall, you’ll eventually have to GTFO. So then what? What if you had enough resources to do anything, but not enough to do nothing?
What would you really believe in?
Sorry to dump this on you on a Monday. I didn’t want to spoil the weekend.
Arch | Tech 