A prank called career

I just finished discussion with my first ever customer...I was one month old in my business and this was the first instance of revenue .... I tried to be remain as composed as possible when he finally told me the figure which would have been almost my half year’s salary in my job......”You send me an invoice and I’ll send you a cheque”..... Once the initial euphoria settled down I was sheepishly standing in front of my father with a simple question.... how to raise an invoice (they don’t teach this in management school even today I guess).....

...I was presenting in a Gartner outsourcing event in Capetown, South Africa in front of about 70 odd CIOs / technology folks. I was presenting a new software delivery model........ something I was simply not qualified for (it is the mildest statement I can make about the situation!)..... my technology knowledge and awareness is butt of innumerable jokes amongst friends (few made up but mostly true!).....

Several times I have asked myself a question .... why am I so happy when I do things I am not meant to do ... I am not trained or qualified to do ... is it just a rebel in me? But no – I am not so much of an anti-establishment guy ..... rebel to me has always had a negative connotation ..... rebel is against something .... with an aim to defeat someone .... my feelings are far more positive .... more of indulging ..... so much focused on my own joy that there is hardly any space for anyone else! The more I think of it, there is only one word which comes closest to describe what I do..... a prank .... yes a prank!
Prank by its very nature is intended to have some fun in a short run without much of a thought for long term repercussions ( I dread this word) ... it requires an alacrity of mind .... a great sense of humour.... an ability to laugh at yourself if it goes wrong.

When I look back at my career I think the single most effective tool I have used to manage my career is ... yes ... a prank...

I have made up my mind regarding certain facts about career:
• Whatever looks exciting starts getting dull beyond a point
• If you take yourself too seriously there is only one title you are heading towards - a Moron!
• The world is changing so fast that it is meaningless to plot far ahead .... if you decide to plot every step you are either arrogant or plain stupid (in my dictionary these are synonyms)
• If you start getting praised for something ... it is best to drop it like hot potato ... if you continue with your ‘expertise’, you are as intelligent as a well-trained monkey in a circus...
• If you get bored, the most honest thing to do is to accept that you are bored rather than marinating your mind with thoughts of ‘maturity’ and ‘stability’ (these are two more words that I dread!!)
• Between career and family, it is always family that is more important ..... simple litmus test – you may change your career but may not like to change your family (here we are talking about normal people!)

The key to managing a career is so obvious that it is invariably missed out – the only way to manage a career is - "Have Fun":

Fun is situational so you are always responding to your surroundings with an alert mind (I have never heard anything like 3 year fun strategy!) .... it invariably beats the boredom ...... fun by its definition is short-lived so you never get ‘stuck’ with fun ..... you can continue having fun only if you find something new ..... it brings out the strengths unknown to you or others
My pranks of playing entrepreneur , salesman, software delivery head (this is the funniest) have kept me alive ......and I have not done too badly for myself (let me clarify – for me the only unit of success is how much fun I had!)
If you want to have a great career .... its a beautiful world out there ..... ready for your pranks ..... have fun!!