This is one of the most entertaining articles I have read in a long time. Even if you aren’t the leaderly type, some of the advice given in the article is worth cultivating.
Cultivate your powers of being interested in things. Every time you succeed in becoming interested in something new, do three things: Google it, type it into the article indexes for your profession at the library Web site and read a few articles about it, and then have a conversation with someone who knows about it. A good way to convene such a conversation is, “I’d like you ask your advice”. Do this for a year. Notice that you are now interested in several important things that nobody else is thinking about. Assume that others in your generation will find them interesting once you explain them.
Write down all the difficulties that seem to recur in your experience of practicing your profession — anything, however small, that often seems to go wrong. Or else become an anthropologist for a day, and hang out with some people — students, immigrants, new customers, etc — who are dealing with your profession for the first time. Experience consternation at the difficulties they run into. Collect a dozen difficulties. Then start making theories of what causes those difficulties. Big, pretentious theories are best, especially if they exaggerate how important the difficulties you’ve listed really are. Elaborate your theories in your notebook for a few more months until they are really grandiose. Then use the theories to start generating ideas for innovation and change in your profession. Many of your ideas will have advantages aside from fixing the difficulty that inspired them. Consult with dynamic people to determine which of these ideas (not the theories, obviously, but the ideas) might be plausible as issues for the long haul.
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