Lessons from the Auction Floor

My Mom was the type of mom that believed her kids should always have jobs. I always appreciated the sentiment, and before I got people to pay me for being a geek I held many different job-titles. I sold snowboards, I was a cashier at a home-improvement store, I built mountain bikes, and I got all the free ice-time a hockey player could want working at an ice arena. But one job taught me more life skills than most of the rest…

I was a driver at an auto auction house. And it was awesome. For three hours every Wednesday night I would go to my rival town, sign in, plop down in the first car for the night and fire her up. I drove the “S” line, which was basically the worst of the worst. About 10% of the cars wouldn’t even start and I had to be pushed through by a tow-truck, trying with all my might to keep from scraping the walls of the auction house without the aid of power steering

I digress. I’ve come to realize that many of the principles I learned while doing this job have been very relevant to my career, and I am going to share my top 5 with you, explaining how you can use the principles to better your career as well.

1. VERSATILITY

There was a time in my life when I thought that a clutch was a clutch, and you either know how to drive one or you don’t. Nope, not true. Turns out there are a million different variables that affect the balance point of the clutch, how tight or loose it feels, how touchy it is. I always had to be ready for anything when I jumped in a new car and let the clutch out for the first time.

As a freelancer, I see a lot of different studios. How the ship is run and what they might expect are different for every shop, but they are always based on the same foundation. They want great work, done reliably, from someone they can trust. You have to be versatile. And I don’t mean “you have to know 20 different software packages” (though that never hurts) — I mean that you can’t have the mindset that you are only there to do what they have hired you to do. You’ve got to take the blinders off. I have worked with sooo many artists who think they are only there to do styleframes/animate/model and don’t think beyond that. You would be amazed at how much people (read: producers, owners) appreciate somebody who is willing to step out of their hired role and be proactive in other parts of the job.

“Hey I overheard you guys saying you need a Boujou guy for the Toyota project - actually I’m great with Boujou and I’ve got some downtime right now…”

“I noticed Dave was having a little trouble with lighting that scene, I just finished a job that was similar so I whipped up a base rig while I was rendering and threw it up on the server if he wants to try it out”

“Hey since this footage we got is at 24fps lets make sure everyone is working 24 so we don’t have problems adding drop later”

Etc etc etc. The opportunities to be proactive are at every single corner of every single day. You will be amazed how far it goes when you step beyond your minimum requirements as a skilled worker and make yourself an asset. As obvious as it seems, 85% of the people I have worked with do not do this.

2. PATIENCE

Most of the vehicles I drove at the auction were junk. Cars wouldn’t start, clutches would burn out, power steering would be shot. Sometimes it got really frustrating and at times overwhelming. Sitting in a car that just died, at the front of a 15 car line, blocking the entrance to the auction floor while everyone is yelling at you to get the hell out of the way… Believe me, lots of fun.

I certainly don’t need to tell you that deadlines and milestones can create stress. Producers create stress. Other artists create stress. Computers breaking and software sucking creates stress. I blame OpenGL for at least two ulcers.

The bottom line is you’ve got to keep your cool and be patient. It’s just work. Getting all worked up and having a hissy fit or losing your temper is only going to make you more stressed and you run the risk of looking like an amateur. “Mike the Producer” walking over and asking you “how that stuff is coming” every 15 minutes might be getting on your nerves, but Mike is on your team and he’s just trying to do his job just like you’re trying to do yours. He’s breathing down your neck because the EP is breathing down his neck because the client is breathing down her neck — the hierarchy goes on for days. Worry about yourself, and focus on the task at hand.

Chill out dude. People appreciate a level head.

3. FILTER THE NOISE

Remember before when I mentioned people yelling? Yeah, the auction house I worked at was like the floor of the stock market, everyone yelling at each other trying to figure out what they want to pay for the current product. Now imagine over the top of all of that, you’re sitting in the car, trying to listen to the auctioneer (who talks just like you imagine they would, way too fast and totally indiscernible) and listen for when they have sold the car and it’s time for you too pull through. It was something that took me some time to master, the ability to listen only to the auctioneer over all the other ruckus and at the same time decipher what he was saying.

Exactly like every industry job I have ever worked on. There is always a certain level of filter that you need to use on everything you hear during a project. You have to be able to decide what is relevant to you and what isn’t, and what deserves your focus. If you’re lucky, you’re producer will take care of most of the chaff when things are spec/feedback related. (The master of the producer-pre-filter is the venerable Carl Seibert, who is so good at filtering that some projects feel like there isn’t even a client involved). BUT - it is your responsibility to prioritize your time and be accountable for your productivity, and there is always stuff that gets through the cracks. Know your job - use critical thinking to make sure big things stay at the top and the little things trickle to the bottom.

4. TAKE IT ALL IN

For a tiny little town in rural Iowa, it always amazed me at how diverse the crowd at the auction house was. There were always the regulars - the 5 Mexican dudes that would always make you pop the hood so they could check it out then huddle up before deciding their next move, the old lady with too much make-up who always seemed to bid but never win, and the really really big guy who sat on the top bleacher and chewed sunflower seeds all night. I always found it fascinating and enjoyable to get to drive all these different cars and trucks no matter how beat up they were, I hold on to it as a great experience in my life.

And I know some day in the far future I will look back on these days of my life and be overwhelmed with nostalgia by the excitement and freedom of my career. The opportunities of today become the pride and regret of tomorrow. Every day is a chance to do something big. To make a Power Move. I often feel like the luckiest man in the world because I truly love what I do for a living and I hope I can feel like this with everything I spend my time doing for the rest of my life.

5. ENJOY YOURSELF

This one is a give-in. If you don’t enjoy what you do for a living, then do something else. This is your life. The quality of a final product is almost always influenced by the level of enjoyment obtained during the making. Be passionate, and the quality of your work and the quality of your relationships will be directly affected, I promise. I’m sure you’ve worked with people who were hating their job… pretty easy to tell isn’t it?

One of my best friends got me the job at the auction house. We got to spend more time together because of it, which I’m so glad we had now that he is off traveling the world (currently living in South America and I haven’t seen him in years). I met some other great people because of the job… and everything else aside, sitting in cars all night listening to the radio with only occasional moments of stress, it was a pretty sick gig.

So lets recap: Versatility, Patience, Filter the Noise, Take it All In, and Enjoy Yourself. Hopefully if you’re not already doing these things, you can begin to apply them in to your daily habits and start being better at what you do, and the way you do it.

Thoughts?