{"id":79004,"date":"2014-08-11T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=79004"},"modified":"2014-08-10T12:43:27","modified_gmt":"2014-08-10T17:43:27","slug":"library-master-8-lis-career-lessons-we-can-learn-from-pokemon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=79004","title":{"rendered":"Library Master: 8 LIS Career Lessons we can Learn from Pok\u00e9mon"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lauren Bourdages, Senior Assistant, INALJ Ontario<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Library Master: 8 LIS Career Lessons we can Learn from Pok\u00e9mon<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"laurenb1\"<\/a>Pok\u00e9mon has been a cultural phenomenon since 1996. I still remember when the first versions of the game came out in English. I got my very first game boy because of those games, a game boy pocket, the transparent one, and a copy of Pok\u00e9mon Blue. I fell in love with the games and the franchise of the whole because their world is just so much fun. They\u2019re on their 6th generation of main series games, and I can\u2019t even remember how many different spin-off series\u2019 exist; I have at least 1 game from each generation. People have asked me how I can just play the same game over and over again, and to that I respond with, clearly you\u2019ve never played Pok\u00e9mon because while the main premise is the same, to become a Pok\u00e9mon Master, each generation of game builds and expands upon it\u2019s predecessors. Over the years I\u2019ve learned a lot from these games, and I think there are some lessons here that can be applied to careers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Basic Badge – Figure out what you\u2019re good at and do it — and keep doing it over and over<\/b><\/p>\n

The Pok\u00e9mon Company <\/a>figured out that they had a good premise, so they keep running with it. But you can\u2019t just do the same thing over and over and over again in the exact same way, it gets boring and stale and stops working. You have to expand and improve, offer the players more than you did in the previous game or series. They built an entire empire off of their Pok\u00e9mon concept. 6 generations of main series games, multiple spin-off franchises as I\u2019ve already mentioned, card games, television shows, movies, mangas, and oh god the toy lines, and of course the various partnerships with McDonalds that they\u2019ve done over the years. There are even actual Pok\u00e9mon centre stores you can visit and buy their merchandise.<\/p>\n

\"pokemon<\/a><\/p>\n

What this means for your LIS career is, figure out what makes you special. What are you good at? What can you do for a library where you won\u2019t just be working but you\u2019ll be growing and getting better every day? Find yourself a niche. The trick is not settling you have to be willing to grow and innovate within your niche. You have to show people something new so that you don\u2019t become outdated or stagnant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Soul Badge – Don\u2019t just follow the prescribed or recommended path<\/b><\/p>\n

To me what has always been one of the major draws of the Pok\u00e9mon games is that since the second generation it hasn\u2019t just been about following the main story and collecting all of the pok\u00e9mon to finish your Pok\u00e9dex. From Gold\/Silver\/Crystal onward there has been a plethora of interesting side options to do in conjunction with and after the main storyline. You can focus on breeding and collecting, on training and battling, on in game contests that award trophies and ribbons and points, or on trying to find elusive and special shiny versions of each pok\u00e9mon. You make your own adventure based on your own interests. Heck if you want to get really out there you can try one of the community create challenges, like the nuzlocke challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The same is true of your career path. You don\u2019t just have to go the traditional route of going to library school and getting a normal library job. There\u2019s a whole world of career options out there for us to choose from. Our degrees build skills that allow us to explore multiple paths that are not always expected, such as competitive intelligence, user experience design, prospect research, records management or advocacy and fundraising. The only real limit is on how far you\u2019re willing to deviate from that main story line.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Trio Badge – To become a true Master you\u2019re going to have to rely on others at some point<\/b><\/p>\n

Ever since generation one of the main series, it has been impossible to become a Pok\u00e9mon master with a completed pok\u00e9dex legitimately (without any form of cheating) without the help of at least one friend. In the early days of the franchise this usually meant making sure you got a sibling, cousin or friend to buy and play the version you didn\u2019t have so you could use your game link cable to trade version specific pok\u00e9mon with each other. Just like with all the other innovations in this series this collaborative nature has grown and become much more complex, first with the introduction of the GTS (Global Trading Station). This system meant you no longer had to be in the same room as your trading partner, you didn\u2019t even need to know them anymore, you just needed to trust that they had what you needed\/wanted and rely on them to make it accessible to you. Even this system has gotten more complex and important in the later generations. Now it\u2019s no longer just about version specific pok\u00e9mon, it\u2019s about having to use multiple game cartridges from previous generations to import pok\u00e9mon into the newest generations. The biggest downside of this system is that it\u2019s hard to find the good people, there are so many people out there who try and take advantage of the collaborative system. The post much needed pok\u00e9mon to the GTS but make trade restrictions requiring legendary pok\u00e9mon that people don\u2019t want to give up or asking for pok\u00e9mon that are literally impossible to get without cheating. This means the GTS tends to be filled with untradeable pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n

\"pokemon<\/a><\/p>\n

What does this mean in terms of your career? It\u2019s pretty straight forward, no wo\/man is an island in this world we all have to learn to rely on one another and collaborate to meet our goals. Sometimes it really is the only way to get there, so why sabotage one another?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Rumble Badge – You CAN avoid conflicts, but sometimes it will cost you — and it doesn\u2019t help you get ahead<\/b><\/p>\n

Battles and fighting are a key aspect of Pok\u00e9mon. The vast majority of Pok\u00e9mon only evolve by leveling up and they do this via battles. You also can\u2019t move ahead in the story without getting your Pok\u00e9mon to certain levels, so some amount of conflict is necessary. If you\u2019re in a hurry though you can buy repels that keep the wild pok\u00e9mon away for a certain amount of steps, the costs add up quickly, and avoiding battles doesn\u2019t help you in the long run. You can also just avoid places where wild pok\u00e9mon appear, caves, long grass, water, etc..<\/p>\n

\"pokemon<\/a><\/p>\n

The same is true in your career (you know, with the exception of being able to avoid places where conflicts can crop up), conflicts are always going to happen, it\u2019s inevitable no one gets along or agrees with any other person 100% of the time. Sure you can try your best to avoid conflict, but chances are if you\u2019re doing that you\u2019re not memorable and you\u2019re flying completely under the radar in other regards, that\u2019s not the way to climb the career ladder. All you can do is face the conflict and fight through it, like a pok\u00e9mon you\u2019ll be better off afterward having pushed through and faced down your opponent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Storm Badge – With innovation comes change, to become a master you must embrace the changes!<\/b><\/p>\n

With the exception (as of this moment) of generation IV and generation V every new Pok\u00e9mon game has been released on a different nintendo portable platform. In fact you can track my personal purchases of new Nintendo portable systems by the release of the new pok\u00e9mon games. With each of those new systems the game has included changes to it\u2019s mechanics and functionality that make optimal use of the new features of the system. For example one of the best innovations in the games is so simple and came about as a result of the change from black and white to colour. With the second generation of the games the creators of Pok\u00e9mon introduced elusive shiny versions of their creations. All these are are graphics of each pok\u00e9mon with a variation in their colour palette but they are incredibly prized treasures that every player wants because of how hard they are to come by, they are incredibly rare. In all my years of playing and all my games I have only ever caught ONE wild shiny, all of my other shinies came from in game events or Nintendo gifts downloaded via wifi. That is an example of one innovation the community embraced wholeheartedly, there have been other innovations throughout the years that have not been as readily embraced by everyone, but once we get used to the changes most of the fandom calms down.<\/p>\n

\"pokemon<\/a><\/p>\n

Kate Kosturski is going to be writing an article soon on dealing with and embracing change so keep an eye out for that. I\u2019ll just say that as with the innovation and growth of games the library and information industry is always growing and with all of that growth comes change. Our profession doesn\u2019t look the same as it did fifty years ago; it doesn\u2019t even look the same as it did ten years ago. To get ahead and stay ahead in our industry you have to be willing to embrace the change and be ready to potentially re-brand yourself to find new opportunities that will make use of your library skills. You need to change to stay relevant or you risk becoming obsolete and eventually extinct.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Balance Badge – Don\u2019t put all your eggs in one basket — spread your effort around<\/b><\/p>\n

If you only focus on training your starter pok\u00e9mon you\u2019ll end up with an incredibly unbalanced team, and an unbalanced team isn\u2019t going to help you defeat the Pok\u00e9mon League to become the Champion and win the game. Even when you\u2019re training your entire team you have to make sure that each member has a balance of offensive and defensive moves and stats, too far one way or too far the other gets you back to unbalanced territory and makes the game unnecessarily harder on you. Be wary though because you could also go too far in the other direction and end up in the world of competitive training (there are real pok\u00e9mon championships for battling) that focusses on natures, EVs, IVs and a whole lot of math that you really only need to know if you want to be in the competitive arena, the regular player just trying to win the game doesn\u2019t need to go that deep!<\/p>\n

\"pokemon<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to balance in your career you need balance in a couple of areas. Like the successful pok\u00e9mon trainer you can\u2019t ONLY focus on building up one skill set or one niche area of expertise, you need to diversify and make sure all your skills and knowledge are up to scratch. You may be a systems person but you never know if you may at some point be called on to run public programs in your career, or answer reference questions. Just like a trainer has to train all stats and all pok\u00e9mon so must you work on keeping all your skills up to date. You also need to remember to take a break and not focus TOO hard, not everyone needs to or wants to be the 24\/7\/365 employee, that can lead to burnout. Remember that you need work life balance, you need time to step back and get your head out of work, it helps make most people better employees in the long run, they\u2019ve proven that scientifically.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. Rising Badge – To become a Master you need to rise to the top, be the very best, like no one ever was<\/b><\/p>\n

Why yes I did quote the television show\u2019s theme song there, what a good eye you have :D. It\u2019s the true point of the game after all, to beat all of the trainers and collect all 719 pok\u00e9mon somehow. That\u2019s what makes you the very best and it takes a lot of hard work, time, and cooperation to get there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All of which is equally true for reaching the top of the career ladder in your professional life. If you want to get to the top of the heap you have to be willing to put in the time, effort, and dedication to getting there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. Mind Badge – A Master knows that sometimes they need a little help — they don\u2019t feel bad about seeking it out<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon caves can be complex, from navigating a confusing area of the world map, to remembering advantageous type match-ups for battles, to figuring out when, how or where your pok\u00e9mon will evolve, a player won\u2019t always be able to retain all of this information. That\u2019s where the fan community comes in handy. Thankfully there are one only knows how many resources out there, walkthroughs on YouTube \u00a0or IGN, wikis, Facebook groups, forums, the list goes on and official books. Many of the fan made resources are actually incredibly comprehensive and authoritative. Someone who wants to become a Pok\u00e9mon Master isn\u2019t afraid to seek these resources out and use them when they get stuck; it\u2019s not cheating to ask for help.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"pokemon<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want to be a true master of your LIS career you have to be able and willing to do two things. First you need to be able to identify when you\u2019re in a situation that you need someone\u2019s help in and secondly you need to be willing to actually seek out help. As I am constantly reminded, library professionals WANT to help other library professionals succeed, I think we illustrate that point very well here at INALJ. Just like with pok\u00e9mon there are lots of resources out there readily available to you, your personal network, the INALJ community, the ALA Think Tank, Professional Associations and Mentorship programs. All of these resources are things you can access for help with any of your LIS career issues, you just have to be willing to use them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Similar Articles From Around the Web:<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.themuse.com\/advice\/4-career-lessons-you-can-learn-from-james-bond<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.blogging4jobs.com\/work\/4-workplace-leadership-lessons-heros\/#308yZPJl24YZvqYa.97<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtern.com\/thesavvyintern\/index.php\/2013\/07\/06\/8-leadership-lessons-we-learned-from-tony-stark-aka-iron-man\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtern.com\/thesavvyintern\/index.php\/2013\/12\/08\/5-career-lessons-learned-from-the-hunger-games\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtern.com\/thesavvyintern\/index.php\/2013\/08\/12\/10-career-lessons-we-learned-from-disney-heroes\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtern.com\/thesavvyintern\/index.php\/2013\/08\/19\/10-career-lessons-we-learned-from-disney-villains\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtern.com\/thesavvyintern\/index.php\/2012\/11\/30\/3-career-lessons-learned-from-walt-disney\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.themuse.com\/advice\/5-workplace-lessons-from-the-women-of-mad-men<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.themuse.com\/advice\/5-career-lessons-i-learned-from-dirty-dancing<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

all images belong to Pokemon<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lauren Bourdages, Senior Assistant, INALJ Ontario Library Master: 8 LIS Career Lessons we can Learn from Pok\u00e9mon Pok\u00e9mon has been a cultural phenomenon since 1996. I still remember when the first versions of the game came out in English. I got my very first game boy because of those games, a game boy pocket,…<\/p>\n

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