Friday, November 7, 2008

The Creative Admin

Curious. Intelligent. Technical. Detail oriented. Stubborn.

Are these words that describe you, or do they describe the traits required for the position you hold? Is there a difference, after a while?

What if, in addition to those, you had other traits?

Imaginative. Creative. Inventive.

Are these traits (and others like them) that you think would be useful in your job? Would being inspired by your creative side yield positive or negative results? As Tom Limoncelli asked the other day, do you really want your electricians getting creative?

Does your position inspire, require, or even permit you to be creative? It might not, but I know that it can. Art isn't just something that lives in a museum, or hangs on a wall. Art is sometimes intrinsic to science (great example), but art can also happen when science is transcended.

Your work can be your creative outlet. There are flickr groups full of examples. Don't get burned out and lose your will to innovate. It might seem like administration is work-by-rote sometimes, but don't lose sight of the bigger picture, and stay creative.