Earlier today a colleague called me a NERD. Capital letters and everything. It was because of my love of technology, and, I like to think, my understanding of it.
I don't know if he meant it as a compliment. But I took it as one.
In fairness, the evidence is stacked against me. I built my first website at university in 1994. I programmed a bit of AI there too, long before it was something people talked about over dinner. I still get far too excited when a new piece of tech does something clever.
So yes. Nerd. I'll wear it.
It made me think about what the word actually means to me, because I don't think it's what most people picture.
N, E, R, D
Here's my version.
N is for someone who Notices what others miss, and isn't afraid to say "no" to the obvious.
E is for someone who Explores ideas from every angle, and escapes the norm whenever they can.
R is for someone who Reframes problems, and rebels against boring solutions.
D is for someone who Does things differently, trying things very few people would dare.
My belief is that nerds question trends. They see what others overlook. They test, tweak and try again until it works. Then they try to break it, just to see what happens.
They solve problems that most people don't even know they have. They're not always the loudest in the room. (Although sometimes I am. I'm aware of that.)
But nerds often build the things everyone else relies on. The apps on your phone. The systems that run your business. The shortcut someone in your team found that saves everyone an hour a week. Someone, somewhere, got curious enough to try.
I think every business needs a bit more nerd in it. More curiosity. More people willing to say "why do we do it this way?" More willingness to test something small and see what happens before deciding it won't work.
Some of the best business owners I've worked with would never call themselves technical. But they're nerds about their customers. Or their numbers. Or their process. They notice things. They tinker. They're never quite satisfied with "that's how it's always been done".
So if that's what being a nerd means, why wouldn't you want to be one? And what would your four letters stand for?
