The fine line between genius and stupidity

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

- Theodore Roosevelt*

Today I notified my boss that I intend to resign. I started with GE in August of 2002, and March 25, 2005 will be my last day.

Here is every conversation I had today:

So where are you going?

I don't know.

Oh I see, you're playing it cool? Come on is it Capital Source? Merrill? CIT?

No, seriously, I don't know.

You are quitting and you don't know what you are going to do?

Yup.

You don't have another job?

Nope.

Then why are you quitting?

I know that this job isn't right for me. I can't really look around and see anything here I'd like to be doing in 5 years. I figure I should get out now while I'm young and can afford to take some risks.

Why don't you look for a new job while you work here?

I've tried that the last few months, and its just too hard for me to work all day and then drive an hour home and spend more time looking for jobs. I think as long as I have this, I'd be lazy about my job search. This way I force myself to make something happen.

Wow. Are you my hero or do I hate you?

Some of both probably.

You really are just quitting?

Yes.

Are you insane?

Pretty much.

So what do you think you want to do?

I'm not sure, but this should give me some time to figure it out. I know I'd like to find something where I can use some creativity. I know that if I want to be in the business world, ideally I'd want to run my own business, but I'd at least want to work for a much smaller company so I can really jump in and make a big difference. I have a business idea that I'd like to tinker with, and I think a lot of what I've learned at GE could really help me have an impact at a smaller company. I'll also give serious consideration to going back to school.

Oh, so which business schools are you considering?

No, not business school.

Oh, law school?

No, probably not law school either.

Umm....?

I'd think about going to get a Ph.D. An academic career has always intrigued me - teaching, research, writing. In fact I was accepted to an economics Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins and almost went there after college. If I did that now, I know I wouldn't want to study economics. There is a newly developing field of study called Evolutionary Psychology that interests me a great deal. I've been reading a lot about it lately, and plan to investigate options for further study.

This is all a joke right?

No, sorry.

Seriously?

Yes.

You're going to CIT aren't you?

No.

What about money? How can you afford this?

Well I think I can last 3 months, maybe 6 if I live light, with no more income. I have some savings and a roommate, so I should be alright. Additionally, I've been fairly successful with online poker, and I think there's a good chance I could cover my mortgage and bills playing for maybe 20 hours per week.

So you are leaving a job at GE to go play poker professionally?

I don't look at it that way. I'm leaving my job at GE because I don't like it. In my free time I plan to play some poker, and hopefully it will help me pay the bills until I figure out something else.

Bullshit! You are quitting your job to play poker!

Maybe a little.

Is that quote at the beginning for real? Are you actually trying to glorify the fact that you are about to be an unemployed hobo?

Yeah, its pathetic.


Thats all for now. Much more to come I'm sure.

* I slightly misquoted Teddy originally. I believe this version is correct now. Source.