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Give Yourself a D

The A paper is banal.

Hand in a paper with perfect grammar but no heart or soul, and you're sure to get an A

from the stereotypical teacher. That's because this teacher was trained to grade you on

your ability to fit in. He's checking to see if you spelled "ubiquitous" properly and used it

correctly. Whether or not your short story made him cry is irrelevant. And that's how

school stamps out (as opposed to bakes in) insight and creativity.

My heroes Roz and Ben Zander wrote an incredible book called The Art of Possibility.

One of the most powerful essays in the book describes how Ben changes the lives of his

hyperstressed music students by challenging each of them to "give yourself an A." His

point is that announcing in advance that you're going to do great--embracing your effort

and visualizing an outcome--is far more productive than struggling to beat the curve.

I want to go farther than that.

I say you should give yourself a D (unless you're lucky enough to be in Ben's class).

Assume before you start that you're going to create something that the teacher, the boss,

or some other nitpicking critic is going to dislike. Of course, they need to dislike it for all

the wrong reasons. You can't abandon technique merely because you're not good at it or

unwilling to do the work. But if the reason you're going to get a D is that you're

challenging structure and expectation and the status quo, then YES! Give yourself a D.

A well-earned D.

Who Are You Trying to Please?

If you seek out critics, bureaucrats, gatekeepers, form-fillers, and by-the-book bosses

when you're looking for feedback, should you be surprised that you end up doing the

things that please them?

They have the attitude that there is an endless line of cogs just like you, and you better fit

in, bow down, and do what you're told, or they'll just go to the next person in line.

Without your consent, they can't hold on to the status quo, can't make you miserable,

can't maintain their hold on power. It's up to you. You can spend your time on stage

pleasing the heckler in the back, or you can devote it to the audience that came to hear

you perform.

The Troubleshooter

Your restaurant has four waiters, and tough times require you to lay someone off.

Three of the waiters work hard. The other one is good, but is also a master at solving

problems. He can placate an angry customer, finesse the balky computer system, and

mollify the chef when he's had too much to drink.

Any idea who has the most secure job?

Troubleshooting is never part of a job description, because if you could describe the steps

needed to shoot trouble, there wouldn't be trouble in the first place, right?

Troubleshooting is an art, and it's a gift from the troubleshooter to the person in trouble.

The troubleshooter steps in when everyone else has given up, puts himself on the line,

and donates the energy and the risk to the cause.

Krulak's Law: Linchpins Whether You Want Them or Not

Jeff Sexton points out that ten years ago, General Charles Krulak theorized that in an age

of always-on cameras, cell phones, and social networks, the lowly corporal in the field

would have far more leverage and impact than ever before. He wrote, "In many cases, the

individual Marine will be the most conspicuous symbol of American foreign policy and

will potentially influence not only the immediate tactical situation, but the operational

and strategic levels as well."

Krulak's law is simple: The closer you get to the front, the more power you have over the

brand.

One errant minimum-wage cog in the machine can cripple an entire brand, or at the very

least, wreck the lifetime value of a customer. The two kids at Domino's who made a

YouTube sensation out of cruelty to pizza (and customers) did more damage to the

Domino's brand than any vice president ever could.

If you think the solution is more rules and less humanity,