From Grumpy's Garage

I've been reading  Everybody Writes, by Ann Handley .  (Be sure to get the second edition. The first was good. The second is better.) The first takeaway is to write.  Just write. Every day. That sounds trivial, but it rings true for me. I don't sit down regularly and just write. I don't have the writing habit, yet. (That last word is key. "Yet." That helps me overcome my internal Judge saboteur.  Positive Intelligence  for the win!) So, I'm writing now. I mean  now . You are reading these words only because I'm writing them. I find that this exercise has another benefit. You are probably reading an unedited first draft. While Handley doesn't recommend that, it does serve to help me overcome my fear of being seen---of being judged. (There's my Judge saboteur again. Get back in your cage, Judge!) I've only got a few minutes this morning before family obligations take me away from my computer. But I'm going to write something anyway. Yes, you ...

 I woke up yesterday with my mind ablaze with ideas on how to brand myself, how to present myself to the world as a team development consultant and leadership coach. I value agency and autonomy above most other aspects of work. When I was fresh out of college, I got a job as an engineer at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. It soon felt like I had entered the workforce as a drone in a massive machine, a mere cog. My security clearance was taking forever to process. I was given trivial work to do, tasks that seemed unimportant. It didn't take long for me to wish I could have more control of the work I did and how I did it. I wanted to exercise agency in my work. Well, an opportunity arose for me to go back to school and get an MBA. That's it! I'd become a decision maker, a manager, a boss of others! I'd be the one designing the work, the tasks that needed to be performed, and assigning those tasks to others. So I quit. I enrolled in the the MBA program at CSU Fresno....

  So I wanted to start this blog, but didn't have a clear sense of what I wanted to write about or who my intended audience was. Who does one turn to when they need answers? Google, of course. But I really wanted a writing coach, someone who would prompt me through the decision process. I know what! Do both! So I popped on over to bard.google.com. Here's a transcript of most of the conversation. (The profile image shown below,  , is from my alter ego Gmail account.)