Jim is currently producing useful work over 40 disciplines or trades. He has worked in over 50 in his life. A discipline is a trade or occupation that a person could spend their life in. Most below are being studied on an on-going basis. Study of these disciplines with technical books, magazines, professional journals, online newsletters and research, and RSS feeds requires 40% to 50% of Jim's time. (See study source list below.) Cross-disciplinary conceptual projects can only proceed very slowly. Studies show that individuals with cross-disciplinary backgrounds are far more innovative than groups of specialists.



Discipline list - various levels of skill attained and produces or produced useful work:

All listed disciplines were engaged in numerous times over many years.

  1. Business
    1. Entrepreneur / boot-strap start-up - founded, co-founded, co-built, or helped others found over 100 companies in dozens of industries.
    2. Outsourcing expertise - since 1976. Currently on oDesk.com.
    3. Financial and operational data analytics - since 1977.
    4. Purchasing / supply chain - industrial and consumer products.
    5. Logistics & freight - foreign and domestic shipping & receiving, packing, customs, warehousing, rail, truck, air.
    6. Accounting & tax - financial statements, tax returns.
    7. General business consulting in some two dozen industries.
    8. Human resources - hiring for technology projects, professional services, construction, retail.
    9. Law - business, family, taxation (including a couple of small sections in the Internal Revenue Code).
    10. Litigation support, expert witness.
    11. Business process design - cross-over discipline - since 1974.
    12. Business conceptual framework and model design.
    13. Retail store design and setup.
    14. Business planning, feasibility studies, financing proposals.
    15. Business valuation.
  2. Sales and Marketing
    1. Internet advertising - Adwords.
    2. Social media.
    3. Small business software and services - construction, architecture, engineering, retail, accounting.
    4. Professional services - CPA services.
    5. Construction and landscaping projects.
    6. Retail - sporting goods.
    7. Wholesale - cosmetics & over-the-counter drugs.
  3. Design
    1. Interior design - study and practice.
    2. Product - home decor, lighting, tabletop, furniture.
    3. Lighting - light fixtures.
    4. Significance design - development of major new design concept for interiors.
    5. Construction hardware and tools - for PG&E and Preston Pipelines and fellow contractors.
  4. Technology and software
    1. Programming - OOP, design patterns, 4 languages, database tech.
    2. Mobile application design and development.
    3. Casual game design.
    4. Website design and development - database driven and static.
    5. User interface design.
    6. Productivity - Software application features and tools. Consider IP created during the 1980's but not patented or comercialized directly. However, this IP is in all work processes, spreadsheet, and many business applications.
    7. Project management, software application development, product configurator.
    8. 3D computer graphics - modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering.
    9. Internet and Web - CMS Web sites.
    10. Lighting - LED, CFL, color temperature issues.
    11. Small business IT - servers, networking, security.
  5. Photography
    1. Products - residential decor, furnishings, etc.
    2. Interiors - rooms and interior panorama.
  6. Videography
    1. Cameraman.
    2. Lighting.
    3. Editor.
    4. Sound.
  7. Media
    1. Search Engine Optimization.
    2. Website design.
    3. Marketing and advertising - online.
    4. Content creation - writer, research, interviews, blogging.
  8. Construction
    1. Remodeling.
    2. All business functions.
    3. Marketing and bidding.
    4. Project management and supervision.
    5. Mechanical maintenance.
    6. Surveying and job layout.
    7. Heavy equipment operation.
    8. Underground utility pipeline.
    9. Overhead powerline
  9. Residential landscaping.
  10. Auto and truck mechanic - including engine rebuilds.
  11. Light manufacturing - food processing.

Discipline list - areas of study but minimal skills.

  1. Science - both original and applied
    1. Psychology
      1. Cognitive.
      2. Environmental design.
      3. Environmental Behavior Research.
      4. Positive psychology.
      5. Evolutionary.
      6. Social psychology.
    2. Physiology - The biological study of the functions of living organisms and their parts, in our case the relationships with external stimuli regarding ambiance.
    3. Cultural anthropology - the science of humans, in our case mostly the cultural aspects relating to lifestyle desires.
    4. Ethnography - used for understanding lifestyles in live situations.
    5. Neuroscience - biological reaction to surrounding environment.
    6. Cognitive science - brain area reaction to environment and stimulus.
    7. The scientific study of religious belief systems - cross-disciplinary
  2. Technology
    1. Interaction design.
    2. Graphic design.
  3. Videography
    1. Script writing.
    2. Directing.
    3. 3D CG compositing.
Conceptuate - To Bring Concepts To Life