Over the last couple of days, I have had this thought at the back of my mind. I have been thinking about all the times that I’ve tried to push the boundaries on certain things. I’m just going to speak for myself here, but hey, if you share a similar mindset, do share your experiences with me in the comments section.
I Hate Labels & Titles
I’m not very sure about what is considered the norm where you’re from. But I can tell you that as an Asian/Singaporean, and yes, being Chinese [again], we’ve been brought up to think that it is important to work hard, stay quiet (don’t challenge authority), and “stay in our lane” whenever there is a temptation to “overstep”. Locally, we used to say, “don’t be a busybody”, and “mind your own business”.
The best way for me to summarize what all of that means is that we should never try to “rock the boat”. Yes, don’t challenge the norms, or in this very case, the status quo.
Growing up as a kid, I think I did okay when it comes to sticking with the status quo. Well, at least I thought I did okay. But as soon as I entered polytechnic (studying for my Diploma), I began to discover that I wanted to have more options. I began developing this desire to learn (just about anything that is within the space of STEAM i.e. Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts, and Maths).
When I finally entered the workforce after finishing my army conscription, I found my first job as a software developer. My job was focused mainly on .NET as a technology platform. But I couldn’t ignore my need to learn, so I decided to learn as much as I could outside of my work. When my colleagues and I chatted over coffee on some days, they would challenge me on why I’m even “wasting my time” learning these other programming languages and software tools (i.e. ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, etc). Their argument then was, “you are a .NET developer, you should just focus your attention on that.”
But I didn’t want to just be a .NET developer for the rest of my career, I wanted to be more. If anything else, I wanted to learn more so that I can eventually discover what I’m truly good at – that natural talent. How can you know what is your true natural talent if you aren’t willing to try different things, right?
Venturing into Frontend Dev and UX
It wasn’t that long into my career that I started shifting my focus as a software developer. I went from being this generalist (occasionally focusing on .NET) software developer to becoming someone that shares a deep passion for frontend development. The only reason I began shifting my focus to frontend development was that it’s the closest thing I can do to what UX (we don’t have that term back then) would eventually become.
By 2014, I was ready to make that career shift away from software development into UX. So I left my job to pursue my passions. That decision eventually led me to materialize my first dream career. While it didn’t last as long as I would’ve liked it to, that work opportunity did make me realize that I had this natural talent when it comes to UX design and front-end development.
So, now that I’ve finally found the one thing more than one thing that I’m naturally good at. What’s next?
Embracing All That I am Great At – Frontend Dev and UX/UI
I honestly cannot say truthfully that I’m great at a lot of things. But if I had to confidently declare that I’m great at anything, it would most definitely be in the areas of UX/UI and front-end development. But in the world that we’re still living in today, I find that I still don’t quite fit in. Every time I look at the jobs listing and descriptions online, I can’t help but feel like these jobs/companies are forcing me to choose between one area of who I am versus the other parts of myself.
To many companies, they are only interested in trying to hire someone who can do just one of the things that I’m great at. Now, maybe, if I really tried to, I might be able to fit in and do whatever it is that they want of me. But at the end of the day, I’m going to be honest with you, I will feel under utilized, and under-valued wherever I end up (if I’m only trying to do that one thing that I’m great at).
Deep down, I will always know that I can potentially add more value, and if I were given the right opportunity to apply all of myself to my work, it would bring me a greater sense of fulfillment. That is also the kind of purpose that I am looking for in my next opportunity.
When it comes to embracing all that I am, I talked about this in a recent journal entry when I described how I see myself professionally. I created a new job title for myself and called it “Experience Architect/Engineer”. Now, I hate titles, you already know that. The only reason I decided to come up with this job title is that it’s the only way the world can understand what I’m really capable of. Every single one of those job titles isn’t enough to “define” who I am, or what I am capable of. So yeah, I created one for myself instead.
Constantly Challenging the Status Quo can be Quite Unpopular
If I have learned anything from my past experiences of constantly challenging the accepted norms and status quos, is that, I’m quite an unpopular guy. I’m not the guy that everybody likes to gather around. Quite on the contrary, I’m usually like the black sheep of the workplace. While everyone else around me likes to talk about how important it is to adapt and embrace change, when the real change is being proposed, they become the very first ones to challenge/reject it. So, what does it say about them? Are they hypocrites?
I’ve learned a long time ago, that, I’m never ever going to be this well-liked individual. I’m never going to win any popularity awards for embracing who I am. And I’m not about to change who I am just so that I can garner more popularity points. Maybe I’ll never be able to win any short-term popularity awards, but the one thing I have been able to do by embracing all that I am, is that, I can be a leader in the field. I have been able to show people where the future is, and what needs to be done to adapt and change so that they too can remain relevant. On top of that, for the products/applications that I worked on, I also helped them to be more future-proof than if they had just followed the suggestions of those trying to stick with the status quo. That is probably the only real reason why I am more popular with the clients/customers than I am with my own colleagues and superiors.
I suppose you can say that as an Experience Architect/Engineer, I’ll always be on the side of the customer/client. I’m a champion for creating the best possible user experience. How can somebody be a great experience design professional if they aren’t willing to champion what is best for the potential customers/end-users?
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