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Keep Your Work Life in Perspective and Pair Curiosity with Generosity with Josh Clark
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Josh Clark
Josh Clark is a UX designer and design leader who helps organisations build products for what’s next. Josh is the founder of Big Medium, a New York design studio specialising in future-friendly interfaces for artificial intelligence, connected devices and responsive websites. He is the author of several books and he speaks around the world about what’s next for digital interfaces.
In this episode, Phil and Josh Clark talk about the need to advocate for the end-user as well as meet the needs of the business you are working for. Josh discusses the need to be persistent, but to also recognise when it is time to move on. They discuss why the next wave of I.T. innovation is going to impact the very fabric of our lives. The culture, and how vital it is for developers to make the right decisions.
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Resources
Big Medium – Check out Josh’s website!
2 Top Career Tips
1) It is important to create a separation between you and your work. You are not your work. Remembering this helps you to cope if something you have created is not well received. The truth is that success doesn’t make you a better person, nor does failure make you a worse one.
2) Be proud of what you do, but also show humility. Share with others and ask lots of questions. Pairing together curiosity with generosity yields great rewards.
Show Notes
Worst Career Moment
Nearly 20 years ago, Josh created a low-cost CMS system. Around the same time, blog platforms and WordPress began to offer something very similar at no cost. That was bad enough. But, what was worse was that Josh did not let go of his project and move on. He failed to recognise that there was no longer a need or market for his paid product. As a result, he wasted a lot of time and energy and ended up damaging his sense of self. Sticking with it too long had really held him back.
Career Highlight
Josh´s career highlight was landing Time Inc. as his first big client. They liked the fact that, at the pitch stage, he was able to present the team to them. Being a small agency without many employees that worked by pulling together a contractor team that was tailored to each project, enabled him to do this. Time Inc. liked knowing who the team would be and the fact that every person on it had said yes because they specifically wanted to work on their project.
The Future
The focus is now moving away from mobile. Now what we can do with data is more important. Machine learning is going to unleash huge change. But. It is also a risky time for society. It would be easy to get the management of all that data wrong. To a large extent, developers are the gatekeepers.
The Reveal
What first attracted you to a career in I.T.?
Josh felt constrained, especially, creatively in his filmmaking role. So, the idea that in I.T. you could create anything really appealed.
What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Look ahead, but make sure that you also draw satisfaction from what you are working on today.
What is the worst career advice you’ve ever received?
Do what you love. If you turn the thing that you love into work, there is a risk that you will sully it.
If you had to begin your career again in today’s world, what would you do?
Josh is not sure where he would start. He would probably focus on honing his research and problem-solving skills, rather than on a specific tech.
What career objectives are you currently focusing on?
Understanding machine learning as a design material.
What’s the number one non-technical skill that has helped you in your career so far?
Being an active listener and at ease with working collaboratively.
What do you do to keep your own career energized?
By exploring the creative process and getting to know what other people are doing.
What do you do in your spare time away from technology?
Josh loves going to museums. He is also passionate about running. He is the creator of Couch to 5K.
Contact The Guest
Contact Josh Clark through the following social media platforms:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigmediumjosh
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshclark/
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