Random Observation/Comment #672: Be someone that makes the world greener, cleaner, and kinder.
Why this List?
Our company recently did an identity workshop with The Collective. Underpinning the discussion was “What are 2-3 identity traits that you hold that strongly defines you?… And your mentors/mentees/connections?”
At first, I just wondered what labels I give myself and other labels that people give me. Thinking deeper, the group considered what identities we most want to relate to. Are we more trusting towards people that share these common traits?
I tend to adopt my identity to the specific situation. I’ve practiced this through traveling and creating my own work personality. More recently, I’ve been thinking about the type of family identity we represent while joining the new neighborhood. What stereotypes are wrapped with our identity and how am I bucketing people into these characteristics?
For this list, I’ve commented why I’d pick these as a top 3 identity traits. I think my top 3 cycle through what I like to write about in my blog.
- Relationships – Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Friend – Each focus may be what’s important for my phase of life. I think being a parent creates a lot of common ground conversation with other parents.
- Degree – Engineer – What you studied vs what you do today is always an interesting comparison. Engineer at heart and principle.
- Work – Solutions Architect – There’s a list of 30 about this. (Hopefully I’ll have enough list of 30 posts so I can use it as a tag line like “there’s an app for that”)
- Work Industry – Blockchain/Cryptocurrency (applied to Enterprise Use Cases / Financial Services) – Some people associate themselves in the anti-establishment ways. I have just said “I work in tech” to oversimplify.
- Age / Generational Labeling – Millennial (in a good way) – This may determine sub cultures or references to common music and growing-up activities. Usually being the younger person in the conversation has made me more conscious of references.
- Geography – NY-er at heart / Coloradoian transplant – Commonalities around travel and local norms and changes in life style. See post on 30 Denver suburban life changes.
- Nationality – Asian American – Grew up in… Born in… – Your background shapes areas of importance and value
- Ethnicity – Chinese – Connection on language or cultural norms. I usually only bring this up in positive cultural norms like taking off my shoes before entering the house and always talking about cooking/food.
- Culture – Americanized Chinese – Raised by… Raised in a culture of… – There’s a common upbringing and especially for Chinese parenting, a pressure towards higher education and prestigious jobs with high paying salaries.
- Religion – Agnostic – Connecting on common values, beliefs, and Sunday routines.
- Gender – Cisgender Male – I don’t know if I’ve explicitly described myself as a cisgender man. This is more common nowadays.
- Music – Metal head? Free style rap? Karaoke singer? – Listening to similar bands or associations and common grounds of easy listening
- Dancing – Swaying to pop music – Ballroom classics or whatever workout dance – Niche dancing internationally can also make connections.
- Exercise – Palates – Yoga, Crossfit, Peloton – People are usually really into their workout routines. I prefer
- Diets – Eats Everything – Vegan? Paleo? – Health may be a big part of your life and I always ask for diet restrictions when sharing a community of recipes
- Hobby (independent) – Experimental cook, Photographer – Cooking all the things and flooded with YouTube suggestions on new recipes. Taking photos of all the things.
- Hobby (collector) – Bottle caps – Magic cards, Cars, Rocks, Random things – Collecting items is an interesting way to find common ground
- Sports (group) – Table tennis! – Getting together to play for fun or competitively is super fun and may lead to conversations about fandom.
- Sports Team (watching / fandom) – Hockey, Rangers – Some people really get into following the seasons down to the upcoming draft picks. I just like watching it with friends.
- Learning style – Through Teaching – Preparing to explain subjects helps me best understand the topic and anticipate questions to dig deeper. I’d identify this in group learning sessions.
- Introvert vs extrovert – Outgoing introvert – Love talking to people, but recharge my energy being alone. Useful for intros or as a date question.
- Status – Married – Single / Divorced / Widowed – If in a mingling situation, it’d be important to identify this to not give the wrong impression.
- Stance on Vices – Social Alcoholic (and more recently pandemic alcoholic) – Tobacco Smoker / Pothead / Drug user – As a common social activity, it’s easy to bring up which vices are free to talk about and bring with you as a house gift.
- Alcohol of Choice – IPA, Whisky – Wine / Cocktails – Dependent on people’s stance on drinking in general, but this usually dives deeper into passions with brewing or making drinks
- Type of Cook – Random Recipes – Griller, Baker – I do savory more than sweets. Stews more than salads. Discussion needed for potlucks.
- Winter Activity – Skier – Snowboarder / Drinker of hot chocolate in the cabin – I think this will come up in conversations. I want to ski on Christmas.
- Smartphone / Tech – Windows / Android / Brave Browser – vs Apple / Mac – There’s a big divide here in technology fandom. Open source has its advantages, but there’s obviously a lower price point when you opt into all these other data selling mechanisms
- Company Size – Startup – vs Corporate – I’ve often said I work for a startup (even though we’re 500+ people). It’s a source of pride to work for smaller companies in niche industries.
- Game Console of Choice – PC / Mobile – Xbox vs PS vs Nintendo – Either way, they all hate mobile (probably because free downloads, in-game purchases, and ads have ruined so much).
- Creative Outlet – Blogger, Drawing Journal – This has been brought up with hobbies, but explicitly on how to reflect on hard projects
~See Lemons Be Me
