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Go Ahead, Geek Out
Being a geek, on the other hand, can be a completely positive aspect of a person’s personality if it’s coupled with enough social skills to realize when others have a completely different level of interest in whatever it is you’re so geeked out about.
I’m going to characterize geeks as people with fairly normal social skills, but with a fascination for technology that is puzzling to non-geeks. Here are some examples of "geeky" behavior:
- Programming a VCR without reading directions
- Carrying a PDA, Blackberry, and cell phone
- Writing a blog about technology
- Sending Mark Cuban emails
- Contributing to open source software projects on your own time
- Playing Zelda, the Ocarina of Time, for 72 hours straight
Geekish behavior often seems strange to non-geeks, not because of social ineptitude, but because non-geeks don’t have enough common interests with geeks to relate to the things geeks do. They’ve never programmed a VCR, played Zelda, or written a line of code, and therefore feel completely lost when geeks talk about these subjects. A geek who is not a nerd recognizes this discomfort and either finds a way to help non-geeks relate to the topic or changes the subject altogether.
Geeks can get along with non-geeks much more easily than nerds can get along with non-nerds because geeks can have social skills. Also, geeks can usually find geeky circles to run in where their interests are shared and no one ever asks for help programming a VCR. On the other hand, nerds generally hate other nerds for the same reasons they themselves are disliked.
So, what to do about geeky behavior in corporate IT? NOTHING! It’s a key trait. Love technology. Strap that PDA to your belt, buy another book on Ruby on Rails, and write a nice long post about web services security. If you keep your nerdish behaviors in check, your geeky behaviors will be an asset.
Smother the nerd in you. Set the geek free.