Life In The Overlap

Ever had a hard time describing what your job is to someone else who actually works directly in your industry?  If so—you may be living life in the overlap.  Here's the thing—life in the overlap 'aint always easy.  With community playing an important part in how we relate to each other, how do we pick and choose communities that we feel like we "fit into"?  Or even more importantly—what communities will accept us when we can barely define ourselves.

This blog is an overlap blog—meaning it doesn't go very deep on one topic (though if you are an avid reader, you can detect the patterns).  But one of the things I grapple with on a regular basis is should I even try to target an audience?  Marketing teaches us to target audiences—to go after "key" segments and prioritize our offerings to the wants and needs of that group.  What I've experienced here has been mostly the opposite.  I didn't choose my audience, you chose me.  I'm always fascinated by the types of people who will come here.  Librarians, planners, UX people, Ad people, Tech people, Strategists, Psychologists and even Preachers—the list goes on as I get a pretty eclectic mix of folks.

That's life in the overlap for ya—you never know what kind of people you'll attract.  But I said it's not easy and it isn't—professionally you have to be at the right kind of organization if you work this way (thankfully I am) and in my experience, the "down side" is that you don't always get invited to the industry "parties" or "clubs" that you'd love to be a part of.  Doesn't matter how much of an audience you have—if you can't be packaged neat and tidy, sometimes that's just how it goes.

But life in the overlap has it's advantages if you put yourself in the right frame of mind.  I've been thinking about some of the conferences I'm either speaking at or attending and how different each one is.  One minute I'm cavorting with promo marketers, the next I'm hanging out with design strategists, then I'm teaming up with Microsoft, getting my b2b groove on and even playing UX keynote in Canada.

And this is where life in the overlap gets interesting.  I've always framed my true passion as being a creative problem solver—and that's painting with a pretty broad brush.  But at the end of the day—one of the perks of life in the overlap is this:  You get exposed to very different types of people.  And if you are observant enough, they rub off on you—the next thing you know you are taking what you've learned and applying in in a totally "unrelated" context.  And this comes in handy with that whole "problem solving" thing.

So life in the overlap isn't that bad after all.  X+Y+Z=OK.

Comments

[Tim Brunelle]

David -

The graphic reminds me of an old Roz Chast cartoon from the New Yorker... there are two intersecting circles. One labelled "Fun." The other, "Boring." Where they intersect is labelled "Bob."

What's also interesting about this subject is that so many companies, brands, and mediums are "in the overlap," too. How should Twitter describe itself? (And not just to our old pal Mark Simon.)

- Tim

[DT]

Nice one. I agree with you, my entire life and career is an overlap. Designer, strategist, innovator, Human resource, legal, software hacker and occasional computer repair man. But it all adds up to one thing problem solving. I think that is what design is all about.

[Herb]

You articulate my pain...

[Nathan Snell]

The "title" overlap issue is something I've been struggling with lately as I prepare to find a job outside of college. Where do I fit in?

I've been wondering based on the number of people who are really involved with technology if it is something that is especially prominent with tech type people, or if it is pretty distributed across the industry.

[Richard Rumble]

David -- Your choice of blog title indicates you've always been "in the overlap" -- living in the sweet spot between logic and emotion (thinking and feeling). Successfully dwelling in this liminal space presents unique challenges.

Speaking of challenges, I've always heard that being a marine architect is the most challenging of the engineering professions, more so than even aerospace engineering. In order to design a high performance sailboat, a marine architect needs to master two realms: aeronautics and fluid dynamics. So, maybe we who find ourselves in the overlap gap can be mindful of the high performance sailboat, stitching its way between wind and water, buffeted by the ever changing currents above the deck and around the hull, as it presses on its course. It's an experience we find sometimes exhilirating, sometimes boring, sometimes terrifying -- but never dull.

Thanks for your willingness to share your experiences. It's always good to see your charts -- literally and figuratively.

[DA]

All,

Thanks for these thoughts and words of encouragement. I know a lot of folks can relate to this. Fact is that we probably all live in the overlap, though some of us package ourselves more specifically.

Richard, you're marine architect story is truly insightful. I'll be chewing on that one for a bit...

[Todd]

Great stuff as usual, David! Life in the overlap is definitely not for the faint of heart. I'm glad that you noted how those in the overlap often don't get invited to the "clubs" for specific groups or industries. From what I've experienced, those of us in the overlap aren't rockstar personalities seeking fame in a particular area, we're more likely to want the broad experiences and connections than the fame and glory (though that's nice now and then, too).

Something else to note is that it's usually those in the overlap that build the connections between groups to generate big change and innovation.

Thanks, as always, for your insights!

[DA]

Todd,

I'm glad you honed in the "club part". It's true. I don't get a lot of invitations. But on the bright side, I can be an independent thinker too. Always a double edged sword.

Well, I did invite myself to the Design Research conference, so maybe that's something... :)

[Lars Samuelsen]

Hi David
You are very much on point. The times are changing and the former barriers are being tested every day. I believe this to be a good thing - nothing is set in stone and with the evolving media/communication landscape jobs, titles and focus will need to evolve. Thanks for a great blog

[Andy Didyk]

David,

I too feel your pain (and the subsequent benefits) of living in the overlap. I wrestled with a similar issue in this blog post:

http://www.andydidyk.com/2007/05/31/unique-sell-out-proposition/

I picked up a sentiment of similar feeling in your post (albeit better articulated and less cynical than mine), so I wanted to encourage you to keep your blog the same...uniquely you. While your industry knowledge is welcome, it is your perspective that I keep coming back for.

I look forward to hearing you speak at the Forrester Consumer Forum. Keep up the excellent posts.

[Leah]

Living in the overlap also leaves me on the fringe or as a wise sage once said, orbiting outside the giant hairball.

[Jon King]

Wow.... how timely. This week I partook in a meeting of individuals with one common interest... creating. The meeting was to launch and initiative intended to use "design" as a tool to aid in the economic recovery of West Michigan. A area hit brutally hard by the drop in the need for manufacturing. It was only our first meeting but the 20+ of us concluded that regardless of wether we are product designer, architects, interior designers, landscape designers, fashion designers... we share one thing... a passion for defining a problem and striving to fix it. The net-out is that somewhere in the "overlap" resides a marketable and valuable collection of creative intellect.

Great topic.