Numismatists as Hireable Ultra-Nerds
Mike Marotta
& Markets, at
http://organizationsandmarkets.com/
A recent article, linked from a FastCompany write-up, said that Pixar
looks to hire "ultra-nerds."
"... You want people who have become exceptional at a tiny
discipline, no matter how obscure or dorky, since it’s that compulsion
to truly master something that predicts how they’ll handle a new task.
(Wannabe Pixar employees: Don’t bury your unicycle or juggling skills
on your resume.) "
Does that sound like anyone you know?
Typically, in an interview, I never say much about numismatics or coin
collecting. When I talk about hobbies, I toss out aviation, which
sounds much cooler, but, where, actually, I have very few achievements
beyond knowing how to fly a single-engine aircraft. (I also wrote a
column for a year.) Having read this piece about Pixar and the ultra-
nerd, I'm curious to try this out as soon as possible.
A couple of other points:
"Another idea is looking for people who have failed and overcome ...
The core skill of innovators is error recovery not failure
avoidance... "
and
"But perhaps the squishiest trait is the ability to make others around
you better, through communication and camaraderie."
Now, there's a can of worms, eh?
Read the original blurb and catch the links here:
http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2009/02/16/pixars-hr-strategy/
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"ueber-nerd"
mazorj
"Mike Marotta" <mer...@torchlake.com> wrote in message
news:ca7b8db7-dfbf-4126...@j38g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
...
< When I talk about hobbies, I toss out aviation, which
sounds much cooler, but, where, actually, I have very few
achievements
beyond knowing how to fly a single-engine aircraft. (I also
wrote a
column for a year.)
Where did it run?
mazorj
"Mike Marotta" <mer...@torchlake.com> wrote in message
news:ca7b8db7-dfbf-4126...@j38g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2009/02/16/pixars-hr-strategy/
-------------------------------------------------------
The part about being super-focused sounds logical as long as
the position requires someone who can excel in a very narrow
niche and who doesn't aspire to promotions to positions
requiring wider knowledge and people skills. That's almost
the definition of "nerdiness". But the other part about
"the ability to make others around you better, through
communication and camaraderie" tends to be the exact
opposite of the nerdiness factor. It's a leadership and
management skill. Nerds tend not to share communication and
camaraderie except among small cliques of themselves.
Neither is inherently better than the other. Organizations
need specialists to do the tasks, as well as generalists
with synthesist and leadership and management skills. So it
all depends on what job you're applying for.
Mike Marotta
>> "Mike Marotta" <merc...@torchlake.com> wrote in message
>> ... aviation ... (I also wrote a column for a year.)
Mazorj > Where did it run?
Plane & Pliot News out of Ravenna, Ohio. 2001-2002. The column was
called "Shirt Tales" and was about the process of learning to fly --
picking a flight instructor, evaluating learning programs, etc. I
also wrote for a couple of websites, reviewed a new book about Pancho
Barnes, etc. I made a point of visiting Cessna Flying Centers and my
reviews of Toledo, Pontiac, Holland, and Cleveland can be found on
www.studentpilot.com
Unfortunately, aviation costs more than numismatics and you can't get
rusty and still do it. You can not follow ancients or Liberty Nickels
for a couple of years and still pursue world paper with turtles or
whatever, but with flying, it is all of a piece and you have to do it
all or not at all. I last flew about a year ago.
Along the way, though, I collected world banknotes with aviation
themes and also tokens and medals. Piper had a Good-For, good for $5
toward your first flying lesson. I interviewed Mildred Benson, the
first "Carolyn Keene." She learned to fly when she was a reporter for
The Toledo Blade. About the Piper token, she said, "That was the most
expensive five dollar gift I ever got."
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Grounded."
Mike Marotta
> The part about being super-focused sounds logical as long as
> "the ability to make others around you better ...
> Neither is inherently better than the other.
Well, we all have unlimted wants and limited resources and when
employers hire, they want the Earth Moon and Sky. Failing that, they
settle for what they can get. Also, it might be true that the nerd can
learn leadership easier than the gladhander can acquire technical
skills, leadership being a skillset.
In numismatics, we have people like Bowers, Halpern and Rohan,
Stanton, and others who built organizations; and we have family
businesses like Stack's, Smythe, and Amos Press. So, it seems that
there may be a trade-off in degrees of nerdiness and leadership and
that may be true of many fields. Look at Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
Comparing Jobs to Wozniak -- if that can be done -- you can follow the
stereotypes. Jobs went on to work with Perot and then return to Apple
and Wozniak was happier doing something else.
In numismatics, we have a lot of ad hoc partnering. That may
definitive.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Down to Gahenna or up to the Throne,
He travels the fastest, who travels alone."
realcoin...@yahoo.com
Michael Marotta, your now saying that coin collectors are ueber-nerds
adn should be hired by employers. Before you said coin collectors are
liars and bullies and cheating is irrelevant. Do you think employers
like to hire liars and bullies who cheat?
You said people can benefit from the interesting and useful things you
say. You said that about you whe n I asked if you believed what you
said about coin collectors are liars and bullies.
So tell us some more interesting and useful things about lying and
cheating when trying to get hired for a job. Is it irrelevent to lie
on your resume and in a job interviewi. An interview is freely entered
just like a coin deal and you said if a coin deal is freely entered
that cheating is irrelevant so cheating in a job interview must be
irrelevant too.
Please tell some some more interesting nad useful things.
PC
The buyer in this hypothetical scenario has a certain responsibility in what
happened. The seller committed an unscrupulous act at best and an immoral
act at worst. That is the key difference - lack of responsibility vs. lack
of scruples/morals.
There is no excuse for a seller to shaft a buyer simply because the buyer is
ignorant. Any attempt I have seen to explain how the seller has not
committed an unscrupulous or immoral act is merely rationalizing and not
valid. There is no excuse as far as I am concerned.
Of course there are probably gray areas but I will not attempt to define
those. That is an exercise left for the reader.
Again my opinion and I do not intend to interpret anything either of you
have wrote.
<realcoin...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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