Humility

I am a student for life. A few years back, one of my mentors used this expression and it really resonated. Of course, I had heard the expression dozens of times but this was the first time that it really struck me as a profound guiding principle. Embracing a passion for learning is quite liberating. Self-pity over mistakes and failures transforms to reflective contentment for wisdom gained. Setbacks and adversity become tests of character. Challenges become opportunities. Insecurities become curiosities. And so on.

Student for life also means that if I'm not being routinely humbled, I am not truly growing. The other night, I had the opportunity to experience such humility. At my firm, we are rebuilding our internal technology platform to improve knowledge sharing. We are working with silverorange, a group of 20-something web designers and developers. You may have heard of some of their clients -- Feist, Digg, GigaOm, Bebo. Yeah, silverorange designed these sites - before they were big. Anyway, they are a very unassuming cast of characters that stay out of the limelight. Supreme self-confidence, but no hint of ego. They are on the bleeding edge of a revolution in technology which creates overnight millionaires, yet this isn't their agenda. In a new school space, they're steadily building a business on old school principles. One of their partners commented to me "we're working on a 'get rich slow' scheme." Their talent is unquestioned, but in some ways easy to miss. Sure, they have the best programming talent and are intimately familiar with the latest buzz, techniques, tools, tricks, and gadgets. They have their finger on the pulse. Chris Anderson would say they are 'aligned with the grain of the web.' But this isn't what impressed me. I was most taken by their perspective, in thought and in expression. Working with them we are able to see our priorities with a newfound sense of clarity. It's very easy to complicate problems, but at the end of the day most things really are quite simple. Thanks, guys.