Newsletter Archive - Tech Talk
Want to get ahead? Be a Geek
04/29/2010 - Time to stop picking on all those strange IT dudes in your company. Why?? Newsflash: about half (actually 9) of the 20 richest people in America are geeks. And most ofthe rest are old money people with names like Walton, Mars, or Koch.
The list of wealth geeks goes beyond Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and the Google boys - Sergey Brin and Larry Page. I could argue that if you really listen to Warren Buffet speak, while he may not be a techie, he's still a geek, just a financial geek. Any wonder why he gets along so well withBill Gates? They really aren't that dissimilar.
Wikipedia, the unofficial bible of geeks with tell you that: "…geek is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, etc." If you are not sure you are a geek, there is even a test you can take: click here.
Whatever the definition, we can't escape true geekdom as it transcends gender, geography, and even industries. Geeks can be your peers, your employees, your manager, or even your CEO.
The Yellow Page industry is not unique to other industries - we have thousands of true IT techie geeks. Many of you would probably qualify to be a Yellow Pages geek. Have you heard that definition of "…bleeds yellow and black…". Now tell me that doesn't imply you're a Yellow Pages geek. Still not convinced? When you walk into a hotel room for the first time do you:
- Turn on the television
- Check out the view from the windows
- Run to the bed side draw to see what directory is there
Be honest now - most of you have to admit you would say 3. That my friends is a Yellow Pages geek.
So how do you get ahead in this world-gone-geek time? Here's some suggestions:
- Geeks aren't all techies. It may have started in the high-tech sector, but realize geeks are spreading into all kinds of businesses: media, finance, entertainment, even Yellow Pages (gasp!).
- Geeks are natural networkers. Have you noticed that geeks love to network with like-minded folks; physical presence is entirely unnecessary. Social networking was no accident. It was, in fact, invented by geeks. With a little different upbringing we might have been able to convert them into top performing sales people. But then again, maybe not.
- Geeks collaborate. The movies may have started the myth that geeks are loners. So not true. They collaborate quite well but don't have a lot of patience for wasteful crap like poorly-run meetings and marketing fluffery.
- Geeks make great entrepreneurs. Why? Because geeks get funded. VCs love geeks. Why? Have you looked at the average VCs - they are their own brand of geeks.
- Geeks are very, very opinionated. And they're not shy about expressing their views, don't you think? Engage them in debate if you dare, but you'll probably lose.
- Geeks are loyal. As a recruiter I can confirm that Geeks tend to view the entire job search and interview process as a huge pain in the butt that wastes valuable time that could otherwise be spent designing something cool.
- Geeks love responsibility. They really do. Give them lots of responsibility and watch them go to town. Just check in every so often to make sure they're not building a handheld brainwave scanner on the side.
- Geeks can survive anywhere. With mobile, WiFi, and broadband all about us, geeks of all flavors can now live, work, even thrive almost anywhere now and don't have to live clustered in Silicon Valley anymore.
So no matter what your perceived focus is, if you want to get ahead in the modern business world, you better get your geek on. Just don't overdo it. Geeks are also well known for smelling a fakeamongst them.