Paula Scher, at the New York offices of Pentagram, where she is a partner
Masters of Design"Fifty percent of doing good work is actually having it made," says Scher. "And getting it made means understanding the obstacles." The key, she quickly discovered, was having a client with both the vision to recognize good work and the power to pull the trigger. It's what Steve Jobs brings to
Fortunately, besides an outsize graphic talent, Scher also has an exceptional EQ: She can read a room and know instantly where the power lies, who's an ally, and who's potential trouble. Ultimately, though, the critical skill for Scher is knowing how to stay fresh, to keep challenging herself by tapping into what she calls the "charm of ignorance." When you're feeling stale, she says, the best thing you can do to shake things up is to "look at what you've been doing for the past five years--and stop. The thing that's most to be feared is doing the same thing over and over again."
Linda Tischler (ltischler@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer.
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Recent Comments | 8 Total
August 20, 2009 at 5:15am by Jesica Semon
I tend to see things going this way as well. I'm certain this won't stop at drug use and party behavior (which is actually a ridiculous qualifier as some of the best employees I've seen partied hard on the weekends). What happens when you're denied a job because of some political or religious views you espouse on blog that the HR person doesn't agree with? You know, the kind of information they aren't allowed to ask you in an interview setting. If it can't be asked in an interview they shouldn't be allowed to go looking for that info online. But, I guess you can always make your profiles private so only people you want to see them can.