Houdini – Lefsetz Letter

Once every seven years, Sagermeister will close down his design studio so he can take a one year sabbatical. During this time he’ll reflect on his business & life, pursue other interests, plan for the future, etc. Obviously, taking a year off isn’t for everyone, but I like the idea of taking time off (in smaller increments) for self-improvement.

My favorite quote:

“…we spend the first 25 years of our lives learning. Then there is another 40 years that’s really reserved for working. And then tacked on at the end of it are about 15 years for retirement. And I thought it might be helpful to basically cut off five of those retirement years and intersperse them in between those working years.”

Image here

At last.

I’ve had a long job search — a really long job search. But I have great news.

Today I accepted an offer to join Casanova Pendrill, a Hispanic Advertising agency in Orange County, CA, as a Strategic Planner.

There’s a scene towards the end of the Will Smith movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” after he’s just been offered a job, walks outside the office and claps his hands together as he walks through a crowd of people, elated about his accomplishment. It’s not just the fact that he was able to find a job. It’s that he was able to overcome all the adversity he faced through perseverance. Incredible perseverance and an ability to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

That’s how I’m feeling right now.

In early 2008, I made the decision to leave my company and carve out another path for myself. It’s taken two years to get here. And it took a lot in between — soul searching, going back to school, working here and there – to get to this point.

I’ve thought about that scene a lot of times in the past 24 months or so.

It’s a tough thing to switch careers. It’s even tougher as you get older.

Why?

Because of all the excuses you give yourself. And none of them hold any water. These are limiting beliefs.

This is where most people quit. It’s what Seth Godin calls “The Dip” and it’s your mind giving up on you.

Image Seth’s Blog

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I know there are lots of people out of work right now, and if you’re one of them, you need to get the negativity out of your head. Stop blaming the economy, or the market, or anything else. In the end, it’s all up to you.

And in the end…there’s “Happyness.”

Christopher Gardner: Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me. All right?
Christopher: All right.
Christopher Gardner: You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.

Just read an interesting article on the NYTimes.com, “Is It Time To Retrain Business Schools?” that analyzes how much of a role the teaching at B-schools may have had to do with the current economic collapse.

“Critics of business education have many complaints. Some say the schools have become too scientific, too detached from real-world issues. Others say students are taught to come up with hasty solutions to complicated problems. Another group contends that schools give students a limited and distorted view of their role — that they graduate with a focus on maximizing shareholder value and only a limited understanding of ethical and social considerations essential to business leadership.“

Something that really caught my eye was that:  “A study of cheating among graduate students, published in 2006 in the journal Academy of Management Learning & Education, found that 56 percent of all M.B.A. students cheated regularly — more than in any other discipline. The authors attributed that to “perceived peer behavior” — in other words, students believed everyone else was doing it.”

And yet another survey found that b-school students actually felt LESS confident in solving workplace ethical issues during their time in school.

“The challenge for a lot of business schools is how to develop leaders and not managers,” said James Tran, a candidate for an M.B.A. and a master’s in public administration at Harvard.

I never went to business school, so I can’t really say anything negative about it from personal experience, but it’s always been my belief that no matter how much theory you learn in school there isn’t any substitute for real world experience. I’m not saying that one is better than the other, but I do think that overemphasis on one type of learning can really skew your thinking.

Fast Company recently asked former students, co-workers and friends to share their favorite life lessons from IDEO‘s founder. Here’s my favorites:

• “Success tends to focus your efforts, failure assures me that you try something different and eventually better.” — from Perry Kleban, CEO, Timbuk2

• “You’re the best version of yourself when you manage to have fun doing your work.” — from Chris Flink, IDEO

• “You can’t think your way through every problem. Trying things and engaging people helps you get unstuck.” — from George Kembel, executive director, Stanford d.school

• “Make the human element as important as the technical and business elements.” — GK

• “Your failures interest me far more than your success.” — PK

• “David helped me realize that it’s not what you work on, but whom you work with that makes all the difference. This, ironically, resonates even at a company that tackles some of the most exciting creative challenges in the world.” — CF

• “Think with your hands, build something or try something, then talk about it, NOT the reverse.” — PK

Here’s the rest of the career lessons.

Further info:

Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner: David Kelley

The Art of Innovation: Lessons In Creativity From IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm

The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO’s Strategies for Defeating The Devil’s Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization