School Did Us Few Favors
The other day, I had a conversation with a coworker. She wasn't comfortable sharing her ideas and asked for my advice.
When you're hired to bring someone else's idea to life, it's tough to suddenly be asked for your own ideas and projects. I know, because I struggle with it, too.
Ironically, I believe those who excelled at school struggle with this the most.
I was a very good student, and I used to be proud of that. But now that I'm nearly 10 years removed from graduation (whoa), I realize it's all pretty pointless.
At the time, I remember wanting to be successful and well-liked—I wanted to fit in and follow suit. This led to a very uncomfortable career transition, as today's employers look for intuition, instinct, and independence. These were hardly cultivated in school, and the opposite was often rewarded.
Now, I see that those who were more rebellious at school are better at breaking creative rules, creating new normals, and coloring outside the lines. (Count the CEOs you know who dropped out of school.)
This reminds me of Seth Godin's Long Work vs. Hard Work.
School was long work — we were rewarded for attendance, compliance, and work (mostly) for the sake of it.
But learning how to learn (what I call academic self-sufficiency — saying, "I don't know, but I know how and am willing to find out") would've been much more valuable than learning obedience.
Today's creative domain requires hard work — quick distillations, experiments, inventive judgment calls, and risk.
The most important part of a career is self-confidence paired with the ability — no, the willingness — to be wrong. Mistakes are where you learn the valuable lessons.
Instead of chasing perfection, learn to draw outside the lines. Don't punish yourself for it; you could create something new.
"I think it’s worth noting that long work often sets the stage for hard work ... Though no matter how much long work you do, you won’t produce the benefits of hard work unless you are willing to leap." — Seth Godin
This post was written as a part of Ship 30 for 30. Read the original essay on my Twitter.
