Josh Allred's Blog

“I’m not a leader.”

But can you conduct this meeting? Lead the office while the boss is gone? Can you watch a five-year old for an hour?

“I’m not creative.”

But have you ever told a funny joke? Made a nice dinner? Have you written one sentence that was worth reading?

Of course you can. Of course you have.

What we are really saying is, “I don’t want someone see me make a mistake.”

We have created a culture where we think it’s dangerous to stand up, stand out and make a difference. It has never been easier for someone to shine brighter but the tragedy is we will do anything to stay hidden.

Can you name 20? 50?

There are 338 inductees.

These were the people voted best in history at their craft.

And yet, most of us don’t even remember them.

The big lie that Instagram sells us is that with a few clicks, maybe you can become famous too. But being famous isn’t the goal. The goal is to matter. The goal is to make a difference. And if we are lucky, we get to do it again.

Being popular is not the same as important.

You can’t fly a kite without wind.

And you can’t write without a pencil.

You have to mix and match elements to make art.

This isn’t stealing.

You are borrowing what’s around to make something new.

What good would it be to have the only fax machine in the world?

Ideas are made to spread.

Have you heard the one about the fisherman and the businessman?

The way it goes is the businessman asks, “How long does it take to catch the fish you need for the day?”

The fisherman replies, “Not long.”

Businessman asks, “Why don’t you stay out longer to catch more?”

The fisherman, “I only catch what me and my family need for the day. The rest of the time is spent hanging out, playing with my kids, reading books, taking naps…”

The business man goes on to list all of his credentials and how he could help this fisherman grow his enterprise. That if he could spend more time on the water eventually he could save enough to buy a bigger boat to catch more fish. Then you could buy more boats and then set up an office to manage it.

The fisherman then asks, “Then what?”

The businessman, “You can retire and spend time with your family.”

The fisherman, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

…

Marshall Sahlins argued that the typical hunter gather only worked three to five hours per day. So different from what we imagine. What did they do with the rest of their time?

They spent the time doing everything we dream about doing.

The answer isn’t always bigger or more but just enough. You can choose what to maximize. Most of us choose money because it is easy to measure. You could choose other metrics.

US satisfaction is at 13%. Not surprising with the year we have been through. However, Pew Research survey asked about the secret to happiness, most Americans, of all ages, ranked “a job or career they enjoy” above marriage, children, or any other committed relationship.

Perhaps, we need to reexamine what makes us happy. Because once we can redefine joy, we will see it is abundant.

Your idea is worth writing down. It deserves that much. After that, most ideas go away in a drawer never to see the light of day.

Some of your ideas will be good enough to turn into a project. However, you can’t make the project perfect before you ship it. Impossible. Otherwise, JK Rowling would still be working on the first Harry Potter.

We turn ideas into something mediocre at first. Continue to polish it until it is good enough to change the emotion of the audience.

Artists that progress will always be critical of their previous work. Most of the work from yesterday will be seen as mediocre compared to what they can do today. Even their best work they know could have been made better.

You might be very skilled at what it is you do. Evaluating and understanding when your work is good enough to be shipped might not be a skill that you have developed yet.

The hits are always a surprise. Do your best and ship it. Repeat.

We say this a lot to people who are lost or stuck. But “finding your passion” points to nowhere and does little in helping someone looking for directions.

You are going to be looking for a long time if you are waiting for the perfect spouse or dream job. (Would the perfect person go out with you? Would the perfect job hire you?)

Last I checked, your knight in shining armor isn’t going to ride in on a horse. The damsel in distress isn’t locked in a tower waiting to be rescued. And your dream job still has deadlines and customers you have to deal with.

These are fantasies. Stories we create of unrealistic expectations.

Sure, you might win the lottery. Some people do get hit by lightning too. But the tooth fairy isn’t real. The alternative path is this:

Instead of looking for your passion, become a passionate person.

Why don’t you become passionate about the person you are already with? Why not become passionate about the job you do have?

You’ve been in love once, you can do it again.

Spotify allows us to go anywhere we want. To discover any piece of music at any time. There is more in the library than anyone of us can listen to in a lifetime.

Yet, where do we choose to go?

Albums that we grew up with. Top 40 hits. Familiar territory.

There’s also a new Godzilla vs. Kong movie coming out soon. It will be the 33rd movie featuring Godzilla.

The question is, Does the world really need another Godzilla movie?

Nope. It’s summer and so Execs are looking to choose something familiar.

Familiar territory is safe and reliable. We know what we are getting when we order from Little Cesars. We know what we are getting with the next Marvel movie.

In an unpredictable world, we find comfort in knowing what happens next. (Even if we don’t like what happens next.)

There is always another email and another tweet to read. The inbound is never ending. The question is, When is the last time you sat with your own thoughts? When we read or hear something that flips the lights on, how long do you just sit with that moment of connection before you scroll to the next thing?

We have a bad habit of wanting to be constantly entertained. When we are sitting in silence on the road, we reach for the radio. When we are sitting in the waiting room, we reach for a magazine. It’s human nature. Silence brings tension. Partially because we are uncomfortable with our own thought patterns. Perhaps we just don’t like the feeling of being bored. Of course, that feeling of lacking interest doesn’t last forever. Eventually, your mind begins to wander and imagine possibility. (There is a reason why good ideas come while in the shower.)

When is the last time you left your phone at home just to see what happens? I’m 34 and it was only 20 years ago where it was that teens didn’t have access to the internet all the time. Most teens today are shocked to learn that phone companies used to charge us for every text we sent. A lot has changed.

I’m not sure what the frequency of “Aha” moments occur. But I do know the more present we are, the more likely you will be struck by lightning.

ZipRecruiter has over 25 million resumes posted on their website. Another 660 million people have a profile on LinkedIn.

The question I have is, How are you supposed to stand out in a noisy world?

I have two friends recently looking for employment. The first one after close to 25 years of service finally had something open up for him to move up. He was passed up for someone much younger. The second friend went back to school to get better credentials and is now looking to be rewarded for those efforts and manage the debts that she has accumulated. I offered her an opportunity to create her own position with us. The catch was that she had to go get the funding but she would get to keep the profits. She is still waiting to be picked by someone else.

Before I started Pivot Adventure, I was a recreation programmer for a local city. How long would it take me to be a CEO of another nonprofit or a Director somewhere? 15 years? 20? Perhaps never. Yet, the day I left that job to start this one, overnight I was instantly in charge.

You are never going to be rewarded waiting around for someone to pick you. The alternative then is to pick yourself.

There is this nickname that really good investigative journalist earned during the Progressive Era (1890’s – 1920’s). It was Muckrakers. The nickname came from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress describing a person with a muck-rake who rejected salvation to focus on the filth.

Bingo. This is the work of a true professional.

Someone who is willing to dig deeper than a quick Google search. Someone who is putting in the hours day in and day out behind the scenes that is getting better at their craft. The person who is persistent in their search for truth or mastery. The one in the trenches.

Do you honestly believe the answer to finding a vocation is to spend more time spamming recruiters or waiting for a promotion?

Of course not.

The problem isn’t your resume. And volume isn’t going to change anything either. A resume is just another chance to sort you out. Don’t speak a second language? Don’t have a Masters? Too bad. They have a stack of a couple hundred that do.

You don’t need to polish your resume or get more education or wait to be picked. What you need is more guts. And most importantly, get your hands in the muck.

For the recent college graduate looking for their first job in their field of expertise, you may be selling competence.

For the band playing 200 shows per year, traveling to the moon and back, you are trying to sell a feeling.

For the CFO making a presentation to the board of directors, you are offering reassurance.

Like it or not, you are in sales.

Ideas are what change the world. If you don’t promote your ideas, who else will? Without this exchange, the world would go silent. Is that a world that any one of us would want to live in?