Best Job Ever!

Chapter 12Career Plan Step #2: Discover Your Strengths

Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it is going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.

—H. Jackson Brown Jr.

It was 2003 and social media was in its infancy. Tech companies were popping up by the dozens. One particular company was launching a new platform they hoped would prove to be a game changer. The organization had a plan to revolutionize music and podcasting. With an ex-Google leader on board, and numerous programming whiz kids, the company hoped to become one of Silicon Valley's next rising stars. By July 2005, the company, called Odeo, had a viable product and strong investors and was ready to launch. Then disaster struck in unprecedented proportions. An announcement from Apple changed the future of Odeo. Apple was launching a breakthrough product called iTunes to revolutionize the way people listened to and downloaded music. Along with the music, iTunes would also include a podcasting platform automatically built in to every one of the 200 million iPods Apple would sell. In one day, with one announcement, Odeo was considered finished.

With 14 full-time employees, the CEO and leadership team decided to exit the podcasting business and head in a different direction; they just didn't know which direction. In fact, they had no “Plan B” and time was short to develop a new product or platform.

To solve the problem, the company started holding ...