‘9¾’ Career Advice No One Gives You
“There must be a mistake! This [ticket] says platform 9 and 3/4.
There's no such thing! Is there?" asks a bewildered 11-year-old Harry Potter. He was on the cusp of his first train trip to the School of Magic – Hogwarts.
Until Harry waded his way through the walls – like all of us [including my 8 year old daughter who is devouring the Harry Potter series] he believed his options were platform 9 or 10.
This blog is about the invisible, magical option in between - the 9 ¾ that has propelled my career - for real.
I connected the dots after reading about a real life inspiration in the book Option B, written by Sheryl Sandberg.
Platform of Friendship
“Is there anything I can do?” are the
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That made me reflect on my career. I connected the dots on a small act that had propelled my career – time and again. I was oblivious to its role - until today.
The ‘9¾’ career advice nobody gives.
I was once seated in front of my boss during an annual review. He was pensive. Knowing him through the years, I knew he was about to say something deep. All he shared, “I like that you are among the first to venture to a white board.”
When I gave him a quizzical look, he elaborated –“I like that you volunteer as the first one to the white board. It helps set the tone. Not everyone puts themselves out there in a group setting with a rough idea.”
What I understood then – he liked that I took an initiative even when ideas were not fully baked through. What I did not realize until today - a rough draft gives control to the recipients to become collaborators.
I may be an artist who aids problem framing- rough drafts on paper, on white boards, even on napkins over lunch – with pens borrowed from waiters.
The art of editing and refining does something to people – they make the idea their own.
I now realize that rough drafts were my “what you NOT want on your burger?” moments throughout my career.
The contrast is striking. Career advice everybody gives - Be innovative, take initiative, be the agent of change. That is the story of trailblazers splattered all over the internet.
The advice nobody gives – share rough drafts with
This experience truly defined who I became and who I am now as a leader. I
Peter Elbow (b.1935) is an author and professor, who wrote “Writing without Teachers” which was last published in 1998. Elbow’s essay “Freewriting” talks about why we should freewrite and it’s benefits. Elbow said, “ The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn’t just make writing hard. It also makes writing dead.” This means that when you're writing you should continue to write and finish, before you start to critique yourself because it could lead to a “dead” essay. One interesting detail, is when Elbow said, “Freewritings are vacuums. Gradually you will begin to carry over into your regular writing some of the voice, force, and connectedness that creep into those vacuums.” Freewriting lets you express yourself and through time that voice will start to creep into regular writing.
In the article Shitty First Drafts author Anne Lamott explains what true processes and methods will help you to make your first draft and become professional writers in the future. She believes that no matter how good of a writer you are the first draft will come out as a “child's draft” meaning disproportional, disorganized and incomplete. The first draft is where you let all your ideas and thoughts pour out onto the paper where one does not have to worry about accuracy and completeness. The importance of writing first draft should not be based on sentence structure or grammar but on great amount of thoughts and ideas that might lead you in direction for the next draft. According to the author the second draft
Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.”
Donald Murray provides strong advice on the drafting process in his essay, The Maker’s Eye. By beginning with a boost in confidence, Murray reassures his reader that everyone, even the most renowned writers have to start somewhere. In explaining what he perceives to be the chronological order of the writing process, he tells his readers to: “detach themselves from their own pages so they can apply both their caring and their craft to their own work” (Murray 1). In order to understand how one’s audience perceives a piece, they must remove themselves and be critical. Murray continues by describing the seven elements one must consider in constructing their first draft: subject, audience, form, structure, development, dimension, and tone. In tackling
• Amabile: How to Kill Creativity? Harvard Business Review 1998 (course packet; writeup 1. For Feb 5)
Has anyone ever inspired you if so who? Michael Crichton was a book writer who went to Harvard medical school and began working as a postdoctoral fellow at salk institute for biological studies.chris was raised in a family where his father acted like he was god and he relied on his sister than his parents. Michael Crichton influenced mcCandless to follow your goals and dreams and McCandless followed his dreams and all the way to Alaska.
I was actually surprised how easy the draft comes together with all the components. I was having a little bit of a problem organizing each portion, making my paper flow properly. There was many times I rearranged sentences, especially in the introduction. Organization of papers like these can be a daunting task as well. There is so much information that needs to be in specific locations throughout the paper. This items has probably taken up the most time for me.
There are many Deaf schools across the united States, and some states have the privilege of being home to more than one deaf school. California School for the Deaf in Fremont is one of two in the Sunshine State. In this article, basic information about the school will be presented, as well as information regarding the school’s language, enrollment, admissions, academics, and history. California School for the Deaf Fremont is in Fremont, California on 39350 Gallaudet Drive. California School for the Deaf Berkeley was established in 1860, but Fremont wasn’t opened until 1980.
The social effects of opiate addiction are felt by those who may have never even seen more than an image of heroin. For example; “In an early study, for example, Inciardi reported that a cohort of 239 male heroin addicts from Miami committed 80,644 criminal acts during the 12 months before being interviewed (Inciardi, 1979).”. (Strain and Stitzer, 2006) In part, this is due to the problems associated with the severe withdrawal symptoms that begin about 18 hours after the last use, and the result that addicts will do almost anything to avoid them. These include sweating, vomiting, insomnia, cold sweats, pain in the limbs, yawning, sneezing, severe bone and muscle aches, diarrhea, stomach cramps
Gore's competency to attain innovation can be traced from the company's culture where employees are encouraged to feel free, collaborate through self-motivation, and communicate among themselves. Gore's innovation stems from contributions made by flexible working schedules allocated to employees. Gore has granted all employees one day off per week in order to pursue their personal commitments (Hamel & Breen, 2007). New employees at Gore are put into wider roles, which include business development leaders or R&D engineers and not other narrowly defined jobs. In order to assist the new recruits to be at their best, each is allocated a guide who gives the newcomer guidelines on the norms of the organization. Instead, bosses are teams, which are made by associates. In this case, tasks are only accepted and are never assigned, but associates dedicate and commit themselves because this is the only way they are measured. This is a voluntary commitment, and many find it hard to keep up with it and opt to leave (Deutschman, 2007).
According to Harris, many writers mistake editing for revising and fix small mistakes which is actually the process of editing. He also emphasizes the fact that revising takes time and a writer will never have their work ready in one draft; it will take many drafts which will be revised for clarity and cohesion. The draft itself could evolve into something different than was originally planned and writers should know, that is
Harry Potter is a fascinating tale of sorcerers, wands, broomsticks, dragons, and magic. The story begins with a young boy named Harry Potter who lives at number four Privit Drive, Surray, England. His journey begins after the death of his parents at the hands of the evil Lord Voldemort. Harry learns of his past and his future as a wizard from Hagrid, the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He travels to Hogwarts where he learns spells and enchantments, makes new friends, finds enemies, and discovers fantastic secretes. J.K. Rowling weaves a web of impeccable storytelling with this critically acclaimed novel. In the tale of Harry Potter imagery, symbolism, and motif take central focus.
In ‘’Shitty First Drafts,’’ by Anne Lamott argues that in order to create ‘’ terrific third draft’’ you must first start out with a ‘’shitty first draft’’. She believes that every good writers, should write shitty first drafts, because the writer will produce better second drafts and ‘’terrific third drafts.’’ I completely agree with Lamott, because the first draft will never be flawless, and therefore from the moment I start writing an essay I fairly pour everything out, all of thoughts and ideas into the first draft, which becomes my ‘’shitty first draft’’. In my first English class in college, I was explained it’s beneficial to write a ‘’shitty first draft’’, since the first draft is like an exercise. Thought out this course I continued using Lamott idea of writing a first shitty draft. Thus whenever I created my first draft I only wrote my views and indications and it was always atrocious, although the process I took was precisely helpful in creating final draft, for instances I would gather all the information plus during the teachers ' conference I would take all of the errors the teacher exposed put into inconsideration. I always wrote a first shitty draft my final draft would be strictly acceptable. Nevertheless it is paramount to create a first shitty draft, because occasionally the mind goes blank and other times the mind is full of the ideas and beliefs, and since it’s the first draft later on add more knowledgeable ideas to the final essay.
As said in the film, by Kathy Bates, “The invention of editing gave birth to a new art and a new language; a language that can transport us in the blink of an eye