Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Part V

(II) Conformity = Dispensability (continued)

The ABC (attendance-base compensation) that we received in school or in work is misleading. In the work world, the average subsidize the mediocre, and the above average get screwed over. The classic Marxist theory is espoused by Godin, the exceptional workers in the factor realise that it does not pay to do factory work at factory wages only to subsidize the boss. This is a fine statement in practice, yes, but how easy is it to create an alternative to the factory? A resume is another way to conform, you do not need a resume but you need to pitch yourself. Do not try to grid it out in business, according to Godin.

Resistance Is Your Lizard Brain Acting Up

Your brain is just an evolved version of that of the lizard’s brain. We are programmed to fear uncertainty, and to not take risks. At work, sharing ideas will always leads to others attacking it because they didn’t create the idea. If they do like it, then they will turn around, and use it themselves. You should not fear failure, you should embarrass failure, and learn from it. You should seek out discomfort in order to grow. The people who break through usually have nothing to lose and almost never have a back-up plan. They are all or nothing. You need to start thinking up bad ideas, in order to create a possible good idea. You should mix the way things work, to challenge how it might actually work. The temptation to sabotage the new thing is huge, precisely because that new thing might work. Godin is betting that you won’t do anything and it won’t really matter because he’s already sold me this book…

Signs that the lizard brain is active:

  1. Don’t shop on time. Late is the first step to never;
  2. Procrastination, claiming that you need to be perfect;
  3. Ship early, sending out defective idealism hoping they are rejected;
  4. Suffer anxiety about clothes to an event;
  5. Make excuses because of lack of money;
  6. Do excessive networking to have only friends around you;
  7. Deliberately isolate yourself from the community;
  8. Demonstrate lack of desire for new skills;
  9. Be snarky;
  10. Start a committee instead of taking action;
  11. Criticizing the work of your peers…

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