I’m not quite ready to endorse ALWAYS being the dumbest person in the room, but I do often value opportunities to be such a guy. You learn a lot, and tend to talk less. I’m usually fine even with a blowhard talking and talking. It makes him happy; I’ll stay aside and keep it real, unless he inflames my passion with some great offense.
To learn is a great aspect of life, and can reap awards for years to come. That’s why in the summer of 2012 I joined a small product team making an app for Topps Sports. I knew most of the guys, and was used to being their junior. It was a risk because I had to temporarily leave my job at The New York Times. Fortunately, my boss there took me back when the stint ended in October. In hindsight, pretty risky business. But, I was given a special opportunity: to brush up / bone-up on Python and its framework “web2py” to power the backend of the app. Surely those are transferable skills that would find employment elsewhere should the Times doors be closed to me.
A fun four months of learning, laughing, snacking, and sweating–often there were snags and fires to put out.
Thank you Woody, Ernesto, and team for letting me be a part of making the Topps Bunt trading card app #1 in the iTunes Sports category. We sure did please the overriding client, Disney, whose team was top caliber as well.
The Bunt app is still in Android and iOS stores.
