Penelope Trunk strikes again "How to build a career if you have Aspergers"
http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2014/02/19/how-to-build-a-career-if-you-have-aspergers/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_campaign=0&utm_content=66375
I like Penelope Trunk.
I do not always agree with her- she likes video games for her own Aspies and that kind of makes me a little nuts but that is OK. I am certain she would not care what others think. For me, her not really caring about what people think, is a good thing because 90% of the time I am too damn tired to give a shit about what others think.
I digress:
At least I know that she isn't legally stupid, and she has a really great blog that does explain a lot of the up and coming business portents to me. Since we are going to be helping the boy look for a job her thoughts really do give me a lot of food for thought. I really appreciate the insight and the fact that it is likely that our resident "boy genius" is going to be running through jobs like water.
Anyhow, I already posted a link to this on my FB page but I am going to copy it here (I have a paranoia that things get taken down and I am much to lazy to go back and look for things that have moved- to me that is a waste of grey matter).
THE blog post is here- take a look at it or go to her links for the whole thing. It is well worth the read and may make a good topic of conversation.
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This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for More magazine titled, Could Your Boss Have Asperger?. I was thinking that the article is so good and someone should give me a book deal from it. Then when an agent contacted me I remembered that I can’t stand having a book contract hanging over my head. But I like this article, so I’m posting an excerpt below, and you can read the whole article at More magazine.
Roughly 80 percent of adults with Asperger’s syndrome do not have full-time work, according to some studies. By the time I figured out I had the disorder, I had been fired from every job I had ever held. I had offended everyone I knew. Think of all the thoughts and judgments that go through your head that you’d never say aloud: You’re fat. You’re lazy. Your clothes don’t fit. Your office smells. I say these things because they’re true, and I’ve since built a career on saying what no one else will say—or maybe I have a career in spite of that.
The thing you would notice first if you met me at my office is that I can’t do social niceties. You might say, “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
I would say nothing. Because I wouldn’t be able to decide if I should say, “Thank you.” Or “It’s nice of you to come.” Or “How are you?” Or “Do you like the weather outside?”
When I say nothing, you will be thrown off guard because you have not been in this position before. But I’m in it all the time, so I can recover faster than you. While you are deciding that I must not have heard you, I will be leading you toward our meeting spot and shifting the conversation to the work at hand. And ta-da! I’ve gotten myself out of all social-skill requirements, and we are getting our work done.
If you have Asperger’s, the key to building a career is to be very good at something. People accept my quirks because I’m so good at starting companies. My inability to see the rules makes me able to think outside the box. I don’t see the box.
It is crazy to think you can start a company from nothing and build it to $100 million in revenue. Yet I am excellent at selling this sort of thing to investors. For most of the world, crazy is bad. In the start-up world, crazy is good.
I like Penelope Trunk.
I do not always agree with her- she likes video games for her own Aspies and that kind of makes me a little nuts but that is OK. I am certain she would not care what others think. For me, her not really caring about what people think, is a good thing because 90% of the time I am too damn tired to give a shit about what others think.
I digress:
At least I know that she isn't legally stupid, and she has a really great blog that does explain a lot of the up and coming business portents to me. Since we are going to be helping the boy look for a job her thoughts really do give me a lot of food for thought. I really appreciate the insight and the fact that it is likely that our resident "boy genius" is going to be running through jobs like water.
Anyhow, I already posted a link to this on my FB page but I am going to copy it here (I have a paranoia that things get taken down and I am much to lazy to go back and look for things that have moved- to me that is a waste of grey matter).
THE blog post is here- take a look at it or go to her links for the whole thing. It is well worth the read and may make a good topic of conversation.
__________________________________________________________________________________
This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for More magazine titled, Could Your Boss Have Asperger?. I was thinking that the article is so good and someone should give me a book deal from it. Then when an agent contacted me I remembered that I can’t stand having a book contract hanging over my head. But I like this article, so I’m posting an excerpt below, and you can read the whole article at More magazine.
Roughly 80 percent of adults with Asperger’s syndrome do not have full-time work, according to some studies. By the time I figured out I had the disorder, I had been fired from every job I had ever held. I had offended everyone I knew. Think of all the thoughts and judgments that go through your head that you’d never say aloud: You’re fat. You’re lazy. Your clothes don’t fit. Your office smells. I say these things because they’re true, and I’ve since built a career on saying what no one else will say—or maybe I have a career in spite of that.
The thing you would notice first if you met me at my office is that I can’t do social niceties. You might say, “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
I would say nothing. Because I wouldn’t be able to decide if I should say, “Thank you.” Or “It’s nice of you to come.” Or “How are you?” Or “Do you like the weather outside?”
When I say nothing, you will be thrown off guard because you have not been in this position before. But I’m in it all the time, so I can recover faster than you. While you are deciding that I must not have heard you, I will be leading you toward our meeting spot and shifting the conversation to the work at hand. And ta-da! I’ve gotten myself out of all social-skill requirements, and we are getting our work done.
If you have Asperger’s, the key to building a career is to be very good at something. People accept my quirks because I’m so good at starting companies. My inability to see the rules makes me able to think outside the box. I don’t see the box.
It is crazy to think you can start a company from nothing and build it to $100 million in revenue. Yet I am excellent at selling this sort of thing to investors. For most of the world, crazy is bad. In the start-up world, crazy is good.
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