Okay, here are my non-negotiables.

The more I grow into my career, the more apparent it is that I have to make whatever I'm doing matter to me. That means making decisions every day that feel aligned, energizing, and worth the stretch, even when the direction gets a little fuzzy or when I look on Instagram and ultimately spiral.

Plus, we spend an insane amount of time at work and with the people we work with. So, for this next stage of my career, I want to be clear about why and how.

I'm still cracking down on my 'big why' (to be honest, it's been one of those 'omg, we're really organisms on a spinning rock' revelation years for me), but I've decided to implement some guidelines while I sort through existentialism.

Here's what I've determined so far -- every project I touch and every team I join has to make space for these five: vision, process, fun, excellence, and innovation. These principles help me figure out what’s worth building, who I build it with, and how good it should feel along the way.

My Non-Negotiables

Vision

Having a vision means having the ability to see what doesn’t yet exist, and then creating alignment around it in micro and macro ways.

Sometimes, when I'm approached for a project, I see where it can go years from now, and sometimes, I get warm, fuzzy feelings for all the possibilities. There's very rarely a time where I don't at least have somewhat of a clue about where we could take something and how far.

The vision grounds each decision in a larger intention and charts the path forward. It's steadfast, yet flexible enough to shift here and there -- and just overall kind of fun to watch unfold in real time.

Process

I'll admit it. I love structure -- it creates an intentional space in which ideas can take form. And you have to remember, in my line of work, we're taking these crazy, non-existent things from our brains and birthing them into reality. I take that rather seriously. I'm an idea doula.

And so a process (deadlines, an understandable folder system, budgets, organization) is imperative because it turns raw inspiration into real outcomes.

I create and rely on them, so that I spend less time trying to find a random file and more time on growth instead.

Fun/Sense of Humor

 

What I’ve found is that, though we may disagree on how to get there sometimes, we’re all trying to make things work and better in our own ways. I also truly believe that every human craves fun and laughter -- by whatever means they go about it.

Unless it is rocket science, I try not to take things so seriously, because let's be real, why are we doing all of this anyway?

I treat fun as a beacon and signal that what I’m doing is at least resonant and human. If we can't crack an occasional joke or two while we're working together, is what we're making really that relatable?

Excellence

Ah, there's a lot of discourse about excellence right now.

To me, it represents a consistency in care and quality, an intention to make thoughtful and outstanding choices at every stage, and deliver outcomes that reflect ambition and respect for whatever I’m doing. I do not tolerate mediocracy or half-assness -- I think it's one of my work pet peeves to be honest.

It's because I try to do the best I can in whatever I touch, and that’s my true metric for success -- no pressure at all.

Innovation

One of my pet peeves is shutting down an idea during a brainstorm -- the point is to water ideas, not weed them out too early.

But honestly, what does innovation mean anyway? I just know that I do my best in spaces where experimentation is welcomed and implemented.

And so, I see innovation as applying creativity to solve problems in new ways and leaving things more efficient than when I found them (+ adding a little tech, policy, and all that stuff in there too for the people who need that for it to be legitimate).