on matching skills, needs, and passions

this weekend i’m in vermont visiting my friends andrew and rita on their farm (which is dope: @stitchdownfarm!). i had a few conversations last night with folks and in explaining what jungle is and does, i had a tiny little breakthrough. this may not be new info, but i think i understand a piece of the jungle system in a new way.

as i explained to people the vision (which is fulfilled people doing and building world-changing things), someone compared jungle to a recruiting firm. and in some ways, that is a piece of what we do. actually, i’m not totally sure what a recruiting firm does, but i think that comparison is apt.

what i realized, though, was that by adding in the passion to the matching of skills with needs (which is what conventional firms do), we’re bringing in new value. on one hand, we help people with a passion for something connect to work relevant to that passion. on another, we help people looking for team members find skilled workers who are motivated by that passion and interested in non-economic forms of compensation (network, prestige, creative outlet, etc.).

i’ve written about this before [link coming someday when i have time to find that other post], but someone asked how to differentiate between all the different people with the same skillset. like, there are already TONS of photographers, graphic designers, djs, etc. i think adding the passions to the calculation will help differentiate different skill/service providers from each other. darius foroux, one of my favorite coaches and researchers, believes something similar…

and on top of that, different people have different levels of profiency within their skillsets. that will provide another way with which to facilitate matches. for example, if you are looking for a basic or beginning level of photography, it’ll be important to match your “budget” and needs with the skill level of someone in your range.

so, in short, in a world where people do work that they’re passionate about (which should not be a luxury), people doing the same types of work get sorted out based on differential skill levels, styles, and complementary sets. in addition to matching the budget of resources offered to the particular person offering the skills.

ok that was messier than i had hoped. oh, well.