Are you an Entrepreneur, Manager or Technician (Artist) Archetype?
You usually default to one
“The work we do is a reflection of who we are. If we’re sloppy at it, it’s because we’re sloppy inside. If we’re late at it, it’s because we’re late inside. If we’re bored by it, it’s because we’re bored inside, with ourselves, not with the work. The most menial work can be a piece of art when done by an artist. So the job here is not outside of ourselves, but inside of ourselves. How we do our work becomes a mirror of how we are inside.” -Michael Gerber (E-Myth Revisited)
One of the more detrimental yet inspiring realizations of my 20+ years working in Tech didn’t come till I had quit my job for about 4 years already. I learned that we all default to one of these three work archetypes. But people will say “I can’t and won’t be stereotyped”, but honestly this is all subconsciously ingrained in our personalities.
“One moment we’re entrepreneurs creating a new product, and the next we're a technician, frustrated with the new idea we just came up with a moment ago! Of our battling personalities, the entrepreneur is the innovator, looking around and seeing a world of opportunity. He’s a high-energy dreamer and visionary. He’s sees all the angles, all the possibilities toward success and is intently focused on the future. Sometimes that energy and constant opportunity-chasing creates havoc and chaos. He tries to pull people along and gets frustrated when things slow down or lag behind. Without the entrepreneur, there’d be no innovation.
The manager in you is pragmatic and craves order. More than opportunities, she sees problems to fix. As the entrepreneur innovates and creates new things, the manager arranges things into rows, organized and orderly. Without the manager, the business could never function.
Lastly, there’s the technician, the doer and the tinkerer. The technician in you loves controlling the work flow and getting things done. She’s frustrated by the entrepreneur’s flakiness and need to constantly change ideas, and irked by the manager’s meddling in her work flow. But she’s happy when the entrepreneur and the manager create more work for her to do. Without the technician, nothing in the business would ever get done. Although the three personalities inside us seem to be totally at odds with each other, we must utilize the strengths of each to run a successful business. That’s why the average small business owner is approximately 10 percent entrepreneur, 20 percent manager and 70 percent technician.”
It doesn’t care that you might be good at all 3. It doesn’t care that your whole life you thought you were a technician but you actually solve problems like an entrepreneur. All that matters is you find out what drives you and play the part to the best of your ability.
I thought my whole life I was a Technician. It was literally in my job description “Systems Administrator”. I was fixing computers and electronics since I was 7. But what I didn’t realize is eventually I would burn out because Technician work doesn’t drive me. I didn’t want to be in a Data Center for the rest of my life, locked away from most Human Contact because I was good at that type of work. I enjoy risk, I enjoy solving problems, I enjoy being an entrepreneur.
Do I regret trying to become one with each bad decision I make? Of Course I do!
Am I rich beyond belief yet? Of Course I’m not.
But I’m living the lifestyle and work ethic that makes me happy is it’s own success, regardless of how long it takes to make a decent living out of it.
So take a deep look inside yourself and ask “What type of work makes me happy?”
Then just go do more of that thing!
Until Tomorrow,
Jason Ziebarth (Club255)
JZ#528