“Today’s careers are made and broken by one’s ability to network. Please don’t post comments about how unfair this is — I know that people who are bad at networking think it’s not fair that the world rewards networking so much. But that’s the way the world is. You’re not going to change it by whining. Instead, be giddy: Networking is actually a lot easier than you think. Here are five reasons why…”

By Michael McDonough: :1. Talent is one-third of the success equation. Talent is important in any profession, but it is no guarantee of success. Hard work and luck are equally important. Hard work means self-discipline and sacrifice. Luck means, among other things, access to power, whether it is social contacts or money or timing. In fact, if you are not very talented, you can still succeed by emphasizing the other two. If you think I am wrong, just look around…”

Cameron Moll: “With both remorse and relief, and I bid farewell to life as a freelancer. It was a blast while it lasted, and who knows if it’ll be the last time I ever freelance. For archival purposes, noted here are a few final lessons learned over the course of 540 days of self-employment. (See also ‘10 things in 180 days’ and ‘10 more things in 360 days’.)”

“Take notice all you unique visual designers — whether you use Dreamweaver or Six Apart or Oil on Canvas; whether your income is $2,000 a year or $200,000 a year; whether you receive a 1099 or not: The IRS applies the same rules and regs to all of you. That’s right, unique carries no weight with the IRS. You all must follow the same rules. Here are some time and money-saving tips — a Designers Dozen — on how to simplify those complex rules to fit your unique situation. All stem from questions you have asked me or areas I know you need help in.” (Thanks kottke.org!)

“People ask me, ‘How can I get our employees to be passionate about the company?’ Wrong question. Passion for our employer, manager, current job? Irrelevant. Passion for our profession and the kind of work we do? Crucial. If I own company FOO, I don’t need employees with a passion for FOO. I want those with a passion for the work they’re doing. The company should behave just like a good user interface — support people in doing what they’re trying to do, and stay the hell out of their way. Applying the employer-as-UI model, the best company is one in which the employees are so engaged in their work that the company fades into the background.”

“Here’s an incomplete draft of my take on the 2007 Business and Design Landscape (pdf). As an update to my previous 2005 / 2006 versions of the business design playing field, this includes not just consulting firms, but also schools, events, publications, and corporate groups.”

“This week I encountered two unfortunate design articles in popular publications: Fast Company magazine (print) and AIGA’s design forum (online). Both of these articles were cited and/or linked to in prominent weblogs. The articles were concerned with the design/business and designer/client relationships and both of these articles irresponsibly mischaracterized and championed unhealthy versions of these relationships. I suspect, however, that this fact was not apparent to many readers.”

“Ever since Adaptive Path moved into its current location several years ago, we’ve been updating the industrial space to better reflect how we use it and how we work. Which is to say, spaces for raging parties with hundreds of people to intimate places for individuals to cry in (’The Crying Room’). And whiteboards. Lots of whiteboards. Last year, we rennovated the upstairs space, creating a second floor for conference rooms and creative space. One room that was created, however, was quite large–almost too large. It wasn’t inviting to work there; it was like brainstorming in an airline hangar. Enter our patient, brilliant architects, Bruce Tomb and Tanja Pink.”

“As no military plan survives contact with the enemy, no design concept survives contact with the client. Both situations feature laboriously (if not lovingly) crafted plans blown away by reality. The endgames differ in that designers define victory as gaining that initial approval.”

Good stuff from the agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. But as with most material of this ilk, it sure makes the place seem perfect. “It’s truly bizarre for someone to work night and day for an entire year to earn a salary of $50,000 then remark that they ‘only’ have $50,000 to shoot a photo.” (Thanks jonnymac!)

Awesome! A new, quite active blog by former XPLANEr Jeff Lash: “How To Be A Good Product Manager is a blog that provides daily tips on good product management practices. While it focuses more on managing technical and online products, most of the concepts are appropriate for broader product management purposes.”

“MX - San Francisco is Adaptive Path’s newest event, subtitled ‘Managing Experience through Creative Leadership.’ We’ve set out to plan an event that serves the audience that has grown with Adaptive Path — those who were practitioners 4-5 years ago and are now finding themselves managing experience design teams, and looking for insight and inspiration (and, knowing us, maybe a little inebriation).”

“Some folks are asking this question. I’ve spent the past two years making the transition from designer to business consultant, jumping a lot of hurdles along the way. Here’s a little of what I learned…”

“1. ‘Do this one cheap (or free) and we’ll make it up on the next one.’ No reputable business person would first give away their work and time or merchandise on the hope of making it up later. Can you imagine what a plumber would say if you said ‘come in, provide and install the sink for free and next time we’ll make it up when we need a sink.’ You would be laughed at! Also the likelyhood is that if something important came along, they wouldn’t use you.”

“Claire is not referring to my post but commenting on the BBH/Sony thing. I don’t really have any strong feeling on that, so we’ll skip neatly over it. Let’s have a look at some of the things Claire says in her article. ‘the management consultant is rapidly being replaced by the design consultant as the industry bete noire.’ I’m not 100% sure on this, but I do think design consultancies are gaining more respect and kudos. Especially the good ones. Obviously. In fact it’s probably because there are so many bad ones that the good ones are starting to rise up.”