In this issue: In order to seek and sustain Clarity you need to master
the ability to design and conduct research.
CREATIVE CAREERS
UNLEASHED!
The online Career/Life/Small
Business Newsletter
For Genre Busters(TM)
From Lyle T. Lachmuth
The Unsticking Coach(TM)
==============================
THANKSGIVING HOT FLASH!
If
you attended last week’s "Successful Careers for Genre Busters(TM)" interview with
Dr. Barry Morris you know how much fun it was!
Well
get ready for another informative and provocative conversation!
JOIN
me and my good friend Dr. Trude Diamond, aka Menopause Barbie, who’s the
driving force behind the workplace and political Blog called "Hot Flash".
On
November 21st join us to
find out how Trude has married a successful corporate career while building a
career as a writer.
To
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Our
family celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend, a month after the official
date. My American readers get to do turkey day this week. Well, I have a
special Thanksgiving Gift for ALL my readers!
To show my appreciation for your support I’m offering a 20%
discount on my Premium Coaching package - that’s a $ 160.00 savings! Send a
blank e-mail to cdi-interest@aweber.com for details.
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DESIGN AND CONDUCT
RESEARCH
Last
issue I discussed the first critical action/competency you need to master: the
ability to seek and sustain Clarity. Clarity being the first Creative Career
Action/Competency of eight. The other 7 being: Research, Explore, Analyze,
Tabulate, Implement, Valuate, and Echo.
What
do I mean by Research? Why is the ability to Design and Conduct Research so
critical? What needs to be Researched? How do you go about it?
Your
answers in a moment. . .
QUOTATIONS
"Somewhere, something incredible is
waiting to be known." — Dr. Carl Sagan
"Research is what I’m doing, when I
don’t know what I’m doing." - Dr.
Werner von Braun
"Research is the art of going up
alleys to see if they are blind" -
Anonymous
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism,
to steal ideas from many is research." – Anonymous
DESIGN and CONDUCT
RESEARCH
Yesterday
I facilitated the semi-monthly gathering of the Career Self Help Salon. This is
a F*R*E*E group of Genre Busters(TM) who meet together to explore challenges in
their life and careers and support each other in the achievement of their
individual dreams. The group is guided by the principles of Self Help and The
Mastermind. If you’re interested in joining this eclectic bunch of
multitalented creatives, send a blank e-mail to sh-career-salon@aweber.com to find out if you qualify for membership.
I was discussing the topic of this newsletter with the
group when one of the members asked, "Does your definition of Research include
secondary Research?" I replied, "Remind me. What’s secondary research?" Here’s
the great example the member shared: "Think about Jane Goodall watching the chimps. That’s
Primary Research. Direct observation." Then they added, "Secondary Research
would be reading books or watching movies about Jane’s work."
Got it! An important distinction - and, you need to be able
to do BOTH kinds of Research.
So, why is the ability to Design and Conduct Research such
a critical competency?
Because wise career and life decisions and actions depend
on having good, clear information. Remember the first Creative Career
Action/Competency: Clarity? Clarity comes with information and a later
Action/Competency: Analyze.
So, there are 2 kinds of Research you need to master. What
are they?
Remember all those papers in school, college or university.
Combing the library stacks. Reading volumes of ’stuff’ and trying to make sense
of it. So, you could write up a report summarizing your analysis and findings.
That’s Secondary Research. You may be better at that than Primary Research.
The other, Primary Research, may be less familiar. IT
however was the mainstay of my existence at the Southern
Alberta Institute of Technology. My first training was as a Chemical Research Technologist. Practically
every class consisted of a lecture followed by lab work. Lab work consisted of
experiments. We would follow the so-called Scientific Method:
One,
Formulate a Hypothesis (that’s a guess/projection/suggestion about what you
think could/might happen).
Two,
Design an Experiment (figure out a way to test your hypothesis. Often in school
the experiment was designed for us. That’s not the case in Life.
Three,
carry out the experiment while measuring the critical variables, e.g. in
Organic Chemistry lab that would involve paying attention to the colour,
texture, volume, and weight of the precipitate that resulted from combining
certain compounds.
Four,
analyze the result and formulate a conclusion or conclusions about them.
Typically that means figuring out what worked and why or what didn’t work and
why. Sometimes, your conclusions would be pure conjecture.
Five, write up the lab.
Okay, how do you apply these 2 kinds of Research to
developing your Creative Career Plan?
Let’s look at Secondary Research first since it’s the
easier of the 2 to master.
Secondary Career
Research
Secondary Career Research involves:
1) Determining What You Need To Know
You
might think this is easy. And, lots of times it is. But, sometimes it’s not.
The first critical step is take some time to THINK about what you know
and what you don’t know. THEN, you need to sit down and make a list or draw a
mind map that answers these questions: "What
exactly and specifically do I need to find out? What questions am I trying to
answer?" Your answers to these questions will shape the direction and focus
of your research.
2) Figuring Out Where To Look
When
I was in school back in the dark ages before the Internet I spent countless
hours combing the stack of SAIT’s library. Now a day you’ll be able to find a
swack of information on the Net. However, I’m still a bibliophile. I have a
collection of over 1,000 books on business, psychology, self help, careers,
change management, HR, spirituality, relationships, sexuality, writing, and marketing.
That’s where I look first. But, I know You. . . Google® is your buddy!
3) Finding It
I
have to admit that I’m better at finding stuff in books than on the Net. I
still haven’t wrapped my mind around formulating good Google® or Yahoo® or MSN®
search terms. I have learned this though: you can find lots of information on
the Net. But, can you trust it? Look carefully at the credentials of the
sources.
Now
that you know how to do Secondary Research, let’s walk you through an example
of how to do Primary Career Research. Here’s the x steps:
1) Hypothesis
- Define the ‘problem’ you want to solve
Here’s
an example: Say for example you’re now a Sales professional and you think you
might like to be a Writer. In this case your Hypothesis mainly involves
thinking about the various ways you could gather data about the Writing Life.
For example, you could: 1) Read writers’ biographies 2) Search the internet to
find information about "Careers for Writers" or "Writing Careers", 3) Search
your local library for material on "Writing Careers", or 4) Interview a real
live Writer.
2) Design the Experiment
Let’s
say you pick one of my favourite tools: the Information Interview (by the way,
the Information Interview is one of the MOST important tools in your Career
Search Toolkit). Here’s how to design a really excellent Information Interview:
a) Make a list of the questions you want to have answered, 2) Run them past
someone else or more than one someone’s to refine them (order, kind of
questions, what’s missing), c) Figure out who to ask (ask your network for
recommendations).
3) Conduct the Experiment
You
know who you want to interview and what you want to ask them. Now comes the
scary part: setting up the interview. Actually, it really ISN’T that scary.
I’ve found that most professional are more than happy to talk about themselves
and their work.
Pick
up that phone. Take a deep breath. Call them and say something like this: "Hi. This is Connie Career Seeker. Your
colleague Mark Mentor told me that you are really terrific writer (sincere
flattery does not hurt). I’m thinking about a career as writer. I wonder if you
could spare 20 minutes of your valuable time (recognizing their demands is a
good thing) for me to interview you. I promise not to take more than 20
minutes! Would you be willing to do that?" Most true professionals will say
YES.
Set
up a time and place that works for them!
Then
go DO IT! A few interview tips: a) Practice your interview in advance; b) Show
up ON TIME! c) Speak slowly. d) Ask permission to take notes or record the
conversation, e) Ask any other questions that pop into your head (they will),
and d) don’t go overtime UNLESS they agree to it!
This
is VERY IMPORTANT: following the interview Send
them a THANK YOU note!
4) Analyze the Results
Okay,
what did you learn? Do you need to refine your questions for your next
interview? Do you need to ask new and different questions? Did you learn
something that tells you this isn’t the career for you?
5) Formulate Your Conclusion(s)
What
will you do now? More interviews? Interview writers in different Genres? Try a
different tool? What will your next steps be?
6) Document
ain’t over till the paper work is done! You should have a Career
of some kind to capture your findings. This can be
on your computer to a spiral notebook.
for posterity - I still have
first career change
Let’s
sum up.
You need to master
Primary and Secondary Research. That means learning how to design and conduct
either kind of Research. When you do, you’ll have the data you need to Clarify
your plans and actions.
Until next
time,
Lyle Lachmuth Honours Diploma Chemical Research
Technology, MS (Organization Development)
The Unsticking Coach(TM)
Your Talents > Your
Career >> Your Life >>> Your Way! (TM)
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CREATIVE CAREERS UNLEASHED and its publisher, are not engaged in providing
therapy. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only.
CREATIVE CAREERS
UNLEASHED may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety only, including
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Copyright 2006 Lyle T.
Lachmuth, All Rights Reserved
