May 24th, 2007
Biography meme
Chris Brogan has kicked off a biography meme – the DIY Autobiography Kit – following a self-revelatory post he published yesterday. Sounds like fun so here goes…
A Quick Sketch Biography of Marc Orchant
The thing most people know me for is… either my passion for gadges or my deep and ongoing interests in personal and team productivity. Oh… and my proclivity for juggling many, many projects and pursuits at one time.
The people I associate the most with are… the network of friends and cohorts I work with around the globe on a daily basis in my professional work and my online life. What’s been truly grand over the past three or four years is how many of the virtual friendships have been consummated in “real life”. Part of this is living away from the epicenter of the industries I’m involved with and part of it is that there are just so many completely fascinating people out there to get to know.
People who have influenced my life are…
- My parents who taught me so many things but most importantly that the key to living a fulfilled life is to pursue your passion.
- My wife who reminds me daily about the importance of seeing the creative possibilities in the mundane.
- My kids who remind me daily about the legacy I’m leaving this world.
- David Allen whose GTD productivity principles literally changed my life.
- Jeff P. Van Dyke who taught me more about building a great company than anyone else I’ve worked with.
- Miles Davis who taught me that there is no percentage in following the crowd.
One challenge I took on and overcame was… quitting smoking (4 years ago). One of the hardest and smartest things I’ve ever done in my life (starting was the single dumbest thing I’ve ever done).
My early years, before you probably got to know me were… spent as a graphic designer, journalist, and managing editor. I’m in recovery.
You might not know this, but … I’ve been a faithful Mac user since there were Macs to use despite many people’s current impression that I’m a “Windows guy”. I’m actually working towards complete platform agnosticism because the world has become too much a place filled people wielding hammers looking for nails to pound.
I’m passionate about… writing, connecting with people and connecting them with others, fixing what’s broken in education and the world of work, and leaving things better than when I arrived.
In the next year or two, I hope to… write more books, travel more, meet more interesting people, and complete my migration from working for a specific company to working with a variety of interesting organizations and people on a variety of projects.
There you have it. Chris has provided a copy-and-paste template if you want to play along.
Marc Orchant has been building, testing, and sometimes breaking hardware and software for 25 years. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
