Whatever your career, it helps to think differently. Thinking differently helps you solve problems others see no solution too. Thinking differently lets you blaze new trails and find new things. For that matter, thinking differently keeps you from getting bored.
This is one of the things that makes me proud to be a progeek – because progeeks, the fans and geeks and otaku who make their hobbies into careers, are great at thinking differently. It's a great edge in your career.
When you geek over something, you have obsessive knowledge about it. You know things others don't know, didn't care about, or didn't know existed. You do, and that knowledge can help you see new solutions and get new ideas. Artists knowing the subtleties of graphics, writers knowing tricks of language, programmers knowing of a community few others do – you, the progeek, do know these things.
When you're a raging fan of something, you put more time into it and get used to thinking out of the box – or forget there is a box. You become used to playing with the ideas related to your job, finding new ways to do things all the time. Inspiration and innovation becomes usual for you.
Finally, when you're a fan of something, you gain a love of inspiration and exploration. You're not as constrained as others nor as afraid of trying different thinks. When you've experimented with permutations of fanfic, trying to compose an unusual news report is hardly as daunting. When you've done crazy things with CSS on your fansite, you're not afraid of creating some frankenstinian code creation for a client – that still looks cool.
You're a progeek? Be proud of your ability to innovate on the job. In fact, you're probably so used to it, you haven't appreciated it in awhile.
– Steven Savage