Thought of the Day - My Job

It's pretty strange that I do what I do for a living. I'm often asked by girlfriends of mine, how the heck it is that I manage to discuss software product strategy and technology platform issues when I barely know what a RAM or bit or byte is. How is it that I got here? Shouldn't I be consulting companies on beauty products or something? Yes, I do know everything and anything about makeup and personal beauty products...all the niche lines and what each ingrediant is supposed to do, etc. And why do I pay attention to such details? I guess I find it interesting. But it is only one form of specialized knowledge -- there are many other forms and I guess enterprise software expertise is one that just fell into my lap. Much of what I talk about is seemingly abstract. I've never even touched or seen a lot of the software I consult on, yet I know much about what they're supposed to do and what their benefits are. I guess this role is not fit for someone who must touch and feel the things they command. It's almost having faith in the fact that if you are thorough enough, smart enough, and humble enough...you can learn everything you need to know to make a proper recommendation. Just today, I was thinking..."this is crazy that I am talking about the right approach for providing data schemas and data objects when I can barely explain what they are." It's an oddball job. But it's interesting and different all the time. I think I am lucky to have found this. There are many other things that are way more mundane. I like knowing things you need time and patience to develop. I like accumulating concepts and ideas to eventually build a hypothesis and frame of reference. Anyone can read about personal products in a catalog and gain consumer knowledge but knowing why SAP may win the war against Oracle by applying slowly accrued expertise to creative scenarios is how I earn a living. To me, it is less "mundane" even though to many people it may sound monotonous, geeky, and boring.