Taylor Davidson had a good job as a product developer and strategist for one of the large financial services institutions that didn’t get swamped by the ‘Butchers in Crazy Town’ scene that characterized many such companies in 2008. His employer did everything in its power to get him to stay. Flex time. More money. They gave him the license to work from anywhere he wanted. But finally, he knew he had to hit the road. There were too many conversations, too many sights and inspirations that he would not experience if he confined himself to the role he was playing. So in November, with no particular route in mind, and a general idea of arriving on the West Coast, Taylor changed the game. He left the safety net of Richmond, Virginia, for the uncertainty of gallivanting cross-country.
Ethan Bauley and I had a chance to meet Taylor when he was in Los Angeles at the end of December. Like Ethan,
Taylor is one of a new breed of social entrepreneur who are changing the way business gets done in the Networked World. They are equal parts artist and businessperson. They bring elements of creativity and improvisation to business processes that have grown stale, scripted, predictable and, in many cases, downright execrable over the past eight years. Taylor’s primary business web site, Unstructured Ventures, explores ideas that are going to be vital to resurrecting and restructuring the U.S. economy in the next few years.
In 20 days, upon Obama’s inauguration, a generation of gamechangers like Taylor will be prepared to take the stage and begin shaping the new narratives.
The generation of gamechangers are generators of wealth. Not extractors or manipulators of it.
They collaborate on the narrative, and contribute to it. They don’t look to control or dominate it.
They don’t limit themselves to one role. That would be boring.
They don’t read instructions or follow formulas. They learn by playing, with the goal of finding new directions, new ways of doing things.
They are not afraid of failure. They know it is a source of wisdom, and that as long as you don’t let it cripple you, it will help you get better faster.
They don’t script outcomes. They design strategies that yield results.
When we have the conversations with these gamechangers, improvisation is the language we will speak.
Tags: Charlotte, conversations, cross-country, December 2008, Entrepreneurship, Ethan Bauley, failure, financial services, GameChanger of the Month, Gen-Why?, Improvisation, Innovation, Learning, Obama Inauguration, Taylor Davidson, trek, Unstructured Thoughts
I’d like to note in the public record that I met Taylor by trading comments on Umair Haque’s blog.
I’m also proud to be complimented in a post that appropriately uses the phrase “downright execrable”.
Taylor is really putting his money where his mouth is and I have so much respect for that. Bravo!
Thanks and happy new year,
Ethan
I’m a big fan of the word “gallivanting”.
Taking words to actions has been the most interesting, important, and likely valuable thing I’ve been learning and from everyone I’ve met (online and offline); taking different lessons from people and spreading it around, a mess of ideas, projects and people, is a hard project to manage, but it’s fun.
Sometimes the Internet works great when it gets out of the way and just helps people be people.