I spent this past week in Los Angeles for a conference that we (Cleantech Group) produced on innovation in the water sector.  As part of my moderating duties on the opening night of the conference, I had to give a quick introduction for a speaker focusing on the convergence of water and IT.  I searched my brain for a quick personal anecdote to use in making the introduction and Po Bronson jumped into my head.

Po Bronson’s book, “What Should I Do With My life?” is a great read for those of us with career wanderlust.  Bronson spends time categorizing people based on how they approach careers and specifically refers to one group as “Boom Wranglers” - those who seem to be involved in whatever the latest “boom” area of innovation happens to be.  As Bronson writes…

“Boom Wranglers were only one species in the wide-ranging genus that might best be described as “Those Who Change a Lot”.  This grouping doesn’t include the many who are forced to change by layoffs, or by having to move.  It’s people who choose to jump around.  Maybe a need to stay in motion isn’t a problem - maybe it’s the solution.  Constant reinvention.  Why not? Changing careers is a modern form of wandering.  It’s how we expose ourselves to more of the world without ditching our responsibilities or draining our savings.”

In describing the convergence of cleantech and information technology, I exposed myself as a “Boom Wrangler” who had managed to begin my Silicon Valley career in data networking, move to software, then web services, and now to cleantech.  A path that now seems entirely logical thanks to the coming boom in datacomm and software opportunities in cleantech.

I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes life’s wandering turns from random into entirely rationale and that staying in perpetual motion is not necessarily a bad thing.