Find your foo
The other day I was talking with Quinn, a friend, about talent and passion. His observations and insights reflected something I've been thinking about for a few weeks, and it prompted me to share.
All of us have some unique talent, our special foo. Not all of us find it. Some of us find it, but don't exploit it (what a pity). For those that find it, and get the opportunity to exercise it in their daily lives, here's something to think about.
Stop listening to others - your averaging yourself to the mean! It's not that input is bad, in fact, its statistically been proven that seeking expert input in decisions where you don't know the answer will significantly improve your outcomes. The key to this sentence is, "...where you don't know the answer." There's a piece to every decision and every outcome which has the opportunity to be truly unique, special, in a way that only you can contribute to, following your talent and passion can get you there.
When you take too much input, in an area where you are uniquely qualified to make an atypical decision, whatever magic you might have brought to the table will inevitably be muted, averaged, some of the specialness stripped out. Most of the truly unique things that people accomplish are done with singular clarity (group triumphs and epiphanies exist too by the way, we're not talking about those here). Not everyone may like what you choose to do, so what. Some people will love it!
I call this phenomenon being 'averaged to the mean'. If you want a run of the mill outcome, where risk has been statistically driven out of your formula, go ahead, ask others their opinion, average those opinion's into your thinking, and average yourself and your decision to the mean. But if you want to be extraordinary, and have an extraordinary outcome, find that intersection where your talent, passion and ability to decide uniquely intersect, and then hold your ground! Great leaders will recognize talent, and they will encourage and reward you for making a stand. Following your passion is the road less traveled. It won't necessarily lead to fame and riches, but it might lead you to happiness. If you play it right, I'll bet it will lead you to fame and riches too, and it will most certainly lead you to happiness.
As a side note, I believe the trick to all of this is maneuvering yourself into a place where your talent, passion and ability to make decisions all intersect. You may or may not be in that place today. If you're not, then following this advice blatantly could have an undesirable outcome. It's possible that you actually have no foo (life's not fair, some people are tall, small smart, some beautiful, some born rich). But I doubt it, I actually believe that everyone has some special foo, whether or not it's marketable, or people value it, is another question. It's possible that you are not in a position to exert your special foo within the organization, or it's possible your boss is simply a moron and doesn't recognize your talent. Whatever the reasons, identify where you're off, and build a plan to move yourself into the sweet zone, the intersection where your foo (as also recognized by others), your passion, and your ability to exert influence all intersect.
As a person in a position to assist, my mission is to help people find their foo, and then move them into a role that allows them to exert it, that's easier said than done, but it's what I strive to do.
