Sabbatical Needed
The days of one person knowing and specializing in everything is long gone. No longer do we have one doctor - we have all types of doctors that specialize in one area. They obviously know quite a bit about other areas of medicine but have chosen to become a specialist in one area.
Other industries are no different and the tech industry is just as complex if not a bit wider in scope. There’s no longer a computer guy but a specialist that focus’s on one area and spends an amazing amount of time in that area.
The time spent is not just learning it but also working with communities to lead and innovate. The web has allowed us to do that but with the extreme focus available to us also causes quite a bit of complexity.
What area do you specialize in? They’re all so fun. I’m currently trying to find where my focus should be and I have a few that I would really like to be in. Hardware, computer trouble shooting, and networking are really not that interesting to me but the focus on Web Development consistently is - and in the area of web development is where I’m trying to find my specialty.
Usability and Accessibility have been two areas I’ve fallen into and love the issues very much but they’re quite statistical. Some have categorized the two and called it “User Experience” but I haven’t decided if I agree with that yet.
Along with Usability and Accessibility - I also love teaching people and companies about structured documents and semantics (not the Semantic Web - that’s a whole thing in itself). It closely follows Usability and Accessibility but really are their own animal.
At the current moment I spend quite a bit of time reading and keeping up with what’s going on but I’m not helping to lead any area. I’m apart of communities but I’m not being innovative. This has to do with the amount of work I have in a 10 hour day and a wife and baby girl that I love dearly.
At some point I almost need to just get away to figure out what I should be doing and think about next steps. I need to pick a road to walk down and at least walk a mile. This can’t be in West Michigan so maybe it’s a family vacation.
It’s something I need to get moving on.
Ryan Says:
Good post. I enjoyed it immensly and I can relate to it.