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Trying and failing is better than merely failing, because trying makes you an artist and

gives you the right to try again.

"My Boss Won't Let Me"

The single biggest objection to changing the way you approach your job is the certainty

that your boss won't let you do anything but be a cog.

Nine times out of ten, this isn't true. One time out of ten, you should get a new job.

Let's take the rare case first.

If you actually work for an organization that insists you be mediocre, that enforces

conformity in all its employees, why stay? What are you building? The work can't

possibly be enjoyable or challenging, your skills aren't increasing, and your value in the

marketplace decreases each day you stay there. And if history is a guide, your job there

isn't as stable as you think, because average companies making average products for

average people are under huge strain.

Sure, it might be comfortable, and yes, you've been brainwashed into believing that this is

what you're supposed to do, but no, it's not what you deserve.

The other case, though, is the common one. You think your boss won't let you, at the very

same moment that your boss can't understand why you won't contribute more insight or

enthusiasm. In most non-cog jobs, the boss's biggest lament is that her people won't step

up and bring their authentic selves to work.

It's entirely true that your boss won't take the fall for you, won't stand up for you when

you royally screw up without notice, and won't guarantee your success regardless of your

behavior. If that's your definition of "my boss won't let me," then we have a semantic

problem, not a management problem.

A cornerstone of your job is selling your boss on your plans, behaving in a way that gives

her cover with her boss, being unpredictable in predictable ways. You can't go from

being a junior account exec to flying the company's biggest client to Cannes in a private

jet and expensing it a month later. You don't start with the confidence of the company;

you earn it.

Pulitzer Prize Fighting: You Might Not Be Good Enough

You're gifted, but you might not be gifted at what you're doing right now.

You may have a remarkable idea, passion, insight, or enthusiasm. But the market might

hate it. The technology might not work. Your craft might be lacking. If your play is

boring, your painting is banal, or your interpersonal skills are flat, you might be doing the

wrong task.

There's no guarantee that anyone who sets out to win a Pulitzer is going to win it. There's

no guarantee that merely because you're passionate about Web design, your site is

actually going to be popular.

The vivid truth is this: now that we have the freedom to create, we must embrace the fact

that not all creations are equal, and some people aren't going to win.

That doesn't mean you're a loser. It might mean that you're making the wrong art,

drawing the wrong map. If you're not winning as a stockbroker, perhaps your art lies

somewhere else.

The challenge lies in knowing your market and yourself well enough to see the truth.

Maybe You Can't Get Paid for Doing Your Art

The thing is, it's far easier than ever before to surface your ideas. Far easier to have

someone notice your interpersonal skills or your writing or your vision. Which means

that people who might have hidden their talents are now finding them noticed.

That blog you've built, the one with a lot of traffic--perhaps it can't be monetized.

That nonprofit you work with, the one where you are able to change lives--perhaps

turning it into a career will ruin it.

That passion you have for abstract painting--perhaps making your work commercial

enough to sell will squeeze the joy out of it.

When what you do is what you love, you're able to invest more effort and care and time.

That means you're more likely to win, to gain share, to profit. On the other hand, poets

don't get paid. Even worse, poets who try to get paid end up writing jingles and failing

and hating it at the same