Connecting the Dots

Had an interesting conversation on the plane ride home, when the person next to me asked what I did for a living.

"It varies week to week, but right now it's probably best described as a great big game of Connect the Dots," I said.

I connect employees and former team members to new job opportunities. I really want to see them grow and advance! I help them identify their strengths *and* weaknesses, so they can better negotiate the interview process. And I pass along good feedback, when appropriate, to their hiring managers.

I help my boss better understand what it is that my team does, and all the many (MANY) different projects we're currently engaged on. When a "surprise re-org" happened late last year, he added my (big!) team to his org. It was somewhat unexpected, and we were just a bunch of dots on the page.. Said differently, we were a bunch of unexpected expense line items on his department budget. I help him see the big picture of what all those "connected dots" are doing to improve the Customer and Sales UX, increase revenue, or add value to the company.

I help find the shortest path to the next dot (or project delivery). I help steer teams away from doing something "just because we've always done it that way". My company has a great many projects happening at once -- there are a lot of dots -- and it's sometimes hard to find where that shortest path is.

What I do isn't so very different from what everyone does: we all have Things That Must Get Done, often with no clear indication of where the first dot (project beginning) is and where the last dot (project ending) is. But often it's just a matter of starting somewhere -- anywhere -- and getting down to work, breaking things into small chunks, looking for the next dot to connect. You'll find the beginning and the end eventually.