"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
By any other name would smell as sweet."
William Shakespeare used these lines in the lyrical tale of "star-cross'd" lovers called Romeo and Juliet. For many years now, the quote has been used by a lot of people for a vast variety of purposes. The meaning, however, has remained quite similar, that the (at least in the context of the play) name is meaningless and it is the person and not the name that is important.
A very unique extension of the same idea made perfect sense to me. It goes thus:
"What's in a title? That who we call the CTO
On any other day, can he not code?"
How is it that we get so bogged down by what the plate outside our office door says that we forgo an opportunity to add tangible value in people's lives? Yes we are managers, and directors and CXO's but just like anyone else we are accountable to the organization and the people that make it.
Let me take the example of our current familial state. Do you think it would be a great idea if I convince my son that I am just the person that pays the mortgage so he has a house to live in? Or, that I am the driver that takes him to and back from his daycare? May be I can convince him to accept me as the guy that reads him stories in the evening and leave the rest to the others (I hope my wife is not reading this right now; if you are, wifey-dearest, this is just an example of what I should not be doing).
The answer to all the questions above is a vehement no. My duty towards my home organization is to do what needs to be done to make sure we are happy and successful as a family. My wife right now and our son, once he grows up, will share that responsibility with me.
How is it then that we can run our careers like that? How many times do we hear someone we know - including ourselves - say "that is not my job". I would argue till the end of time that anything that has the capacity to change the future of the organization that we are a part of, negatively or positively, is everybody's job. I also agree that specialists should be the first choice to accomplish a task (as in you should never ask me to run the finances of our household - I can do it; but not if my wife is available for that task), but in the absence of a specialist, anyone, no matter what level of hierarchy they represent, should be accepting of the responsibility.
Like a lot of people out there, I have always craved for a great title. I wanted something that represented authority and looked cool on a business card. Thankfully our son found me appropriate for a very good position. Here is the design I am currently working with for my new business cards:
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