Okay. so Its my birthday. I made kick ass brownies that no one but me could eat due to their nut content. Party time right? As I rolled home with my evening planned out, a party by myself with an xbox and possible web coding later in the evening, I got to thinking “when should we as developers celebrate.”
IM SO EXCITED!
I get really excited about things really fast. For instance, lately I’ve been super excited about things at work with frye/wiles. Some of the projects we are working on have me, no joke, dreaming about. I have a real tendency to get caught up in my work. This is both good and bad. On one hand this means that Ill put a lot of work into the things I start, not letting them go stagnant to early. However this means that I often times get let down. Ill get all hyped up on some project and see it to the finish, only to find out that I can’t create a website about knit cat vests that will generate enough traffic to create ad revenue.
So when should we as creative agents get excited about things, and when should we pull in the reigns and take a reality check. Often we have exciting points that come as a realization that we have reached a goal. It comes almost as a surprise. “O MY GOD WE GOT A PAGE RANK OF 6!” Thats a realization that hits, is firm and deserves a good round of drinks. Often times however on projects a hype beast will be created. Its easy to get caught up on what can be, “o man, if this works we could triple our income! its that easy!!!” And although it may seem like the goal is right there, We need to be careful not to get to excited.
What does being excited even get us?
I know that when I’m excited about a project, may it be a website layout that is using fluid layout, or a new ad campaign for a client that could potentially quadruple web traffic, what being excited does i-s well.. gets me excited about the project. When I’m excited, I don’t just go home and forget about my work. The whole ride home I’m thinking about my work, about how cool its going to be. Although I am not coding or researching at that moment. I’m bouncing ideas around in my head. It’s not uncommon for me to have 4 or 5 new ideas to work with the next day when I show up at work (ask Rob who can’t even check his morning mail without constant “hey rob, what if….”)
So were does this leave us?
In all of our projects I think we need to be realistic optimists. This means that we need to be willing to get excited about our projects that we work on. As the client you need to be excited about the work you are asking for. You need to be excited about us helping you achieve your goals with our expertise. In that same way, we as a group are focused on maintaining that same level of excitement to keep your project going. By having these sorts of realistic goals we can, as a whole, push projects forwards that as individuals would never be possible, and with some levelheadedness wont grow beyond management.
So Lets get the ball rolling, be realistic, and reap the benefits of working as a creative agency. Ill meet you at the Mission Inn for drinks when the day is done.
Page rank 5.. here we come!
4 comments so far.
Happy birthday again buddy. Enjoy your youth while you still have it
I, like you, get excited about things going on here but I try to remain realistic about everything. All good things take time (especially good websites) and eventually, we’ll get to where we want to be.
Hey, I ate those brownies. The donuts kept me from eating more and I got home shaking a bit from a sugar overload.
I think, as developers, that the time for celebration comes after contract is signed, and after the invoice is paid. That’s when goals have been reached, ideas are implemented in the wild, and when a project has moved from the testing to live.
Compleanos feliz, mutha trucka.
Yes Happy Birthday Young Lad. I didn’t want to eat your brownies because you were sick.
Happy Birthay!!! Hope you had a good one at the Mission Inn. I get excited about my job too. Ever since I started my freelance career I wake up every morning at 7 AM and I can’t go back to sleep. I kinda like that, but sometimes I wish I could sleep in!! Everyone tells me that it will eventually ware off…. we will see. I am constantly thinking of NEW creative ways to photograph. I like to be original and unique.
I am attending a party tonight in L.A. for Stop Smiling Magazine, the invite is open, and they will have an open bar. They are trying to promote their new magazine. I sent Rob the info. If I don’t see you, I hope you have a great birthday week!