Big Sky
Projects are a means. As a consultant, I rely on meeting, if not exceeding, my client needs and expectations for my livelihood. But that's not what motivates me. I keep searching for a client with a focus and comfort zone as broad as mine. I understand limitations, often imposed by budget or logistical constraints, but struggle when they're imposed prematurely in favor of a sense of safety and certainty, to assuage fear. I strive to be a better diplomat. While I've gotten better at assuaging client reservations, I'm too quickly flummoxed by unnecessarily constrained ambitions and lose my tact. Fundamentally, I'm dedicated to innovation that improves lives; client engagements are a way of pursuing this progress and while, on one level I'm there to serve them, fundamentally, I'm dedicated to a bigger cause. Every undertaking is a learning opportunity about how to do change better. At best, we pretend to have it figured out. People are usually the essence of the problem, and we're complex beings. Climate change, pollution, and waste aren't environmental issues, they're human ones. My colleagues and I navigate a delicate balance, attending to the will of our clients, earning our paycheck, while also always aspiring for some larger inflection, or perspective broadening or, if nothing else, learning about how we might do it better next time. If I'm going to fall short, I would rather do so finding out how far I can go rather than tripping on a worn path with a less ambitious destination.
