If you have an emergency during that time, though, just shoot us an e-mail- we’ll do our best to get you taken care of as quickly as we can.

Happy Holidays!

I’ve given it some thought, though, and I’ve decided how I feel about the whole blending interests and being pretty good at all of them vs focusing on one thing and mastering it conversation.

When it comes down to it, I think being able to do lots of things makes you more valuable. When you’re confidently strong in several areas, is it really necessary to then “master” one of them and forsake the rest? I just don’t think so. Plus, I think having all that other experience beefs up your creativity level, allowing you to come to integrated (and truly innovative) conclusions rather than only having a focused point of view to draw from.

We’re a much stronger team here because of our individual diversity. Those of us who design can also code. Those of us who write also help with project management. Those of us who work with information architecture also know the ins and outs of e-comm design. Some of us who do all of the above.

Just because we’re not masters at each of those things doesn’t mean we don’t strive for perfection. Less than great is not an option, and that’s the best part of being multi-dimensional. We learn something new every day… and teach each other along the way.

That’s not to say I didn’t take advantage of the classes I took, or do my homework, or participate in group discussions… I did. I was actually a relatively good student. But still, here I am doing work that’s directly related to my degree (communications) and I feel like everything I’ve learned has been on the job. That’s right- on the job, not in the classroom.

It makes perfect sense that I feel this way, because it’s the world we live in. We’re a self-taught generation, no professors necessary. We learn from each other’s mistakes, successes, trials and tribulations. No no no, we don’t use self-help to reach our goals, but we are self-taught, and that’s a huge difference.

I’m not the only one who feels this way.

“With the amount of awesome tutorial blogs and design blogs out there, I don’t see any reason for a degree.” – Mike Smith

“I have worked with other programmers with and without degrees. Some were good and some not; having a degree didn’t seem to make any difference as to which pot they fell into.” – Stack Overflow

I think Peter Chang sums it up quite nicely.

“…before I went to college I was self-taught and after college I consider myself to be self-teaching all the time. Learning should never end.”

via Swiss Miss

It’s always nice to find other people who think like we do, and Trent Walton does. He shares our belief that it’s more about the overall experience we create for our users, rather than the bits and pieces we use to get there. Although we strain immensely over all of those bits, and pour tirelessly over each of the pieces, what brings us the most joy is someone telling us “your work really helped me today.”

And that is what we strive for, because the whole is greater than the sum of all its parts.

“Good content is user-centered…

Publishing content that is self-absorbed in substance or style alienates readers. Most successful organizations have realized this, yet many sites are still built around internal org charts, clogged with mission statements designed for internal use, and beset by jargon and proprietary names for common ideas.

If you’re the only one offering a desirable product or service, you might not see the effects of narcissistic content right away, but someone will eventually come along and eat your lunch by offering the exact same thing in a user-centered way.”

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/a-checklist-for-content-work/

We fixed our own problem… then decided it might be useful to other people, too!

We came up with an experiment to incorporate our todo lists into that same Moleskine pocket notebook we carry around all the time anyway. All you do is peel and stick the StickTo right onto the page, write your todos, and check ‘em off as you go. Instant organization. There’s even a tab that sticks out to remind you you’re not quite done with your list yet. No worries, though- when you are done, you can just rip off that tab and get on with it.

When most of our organization happens online, it’s nice to have a tangible reminder that our physical lives can be just as put together.

Check them out here