As Will Smith showed last night, don’t give your haters any power over you. As a fan of professional wrestling growing up, I’m not sure I believe what we all saw at the Oscars was real, but it was gripping TV and provided a convenient backdrop to this Commentary.
Too often we become consumed with what others think of us. Of what the repercussions of being different are. Yet, throughout history it is clear that it isn’t the conformers that shape our world, it is the dreamers and the ones that dare to be different that make the most lasting impact.
Have you ever asked yourself what you would do that is different? What answer to a persistent problem everyone is missing that you have hiding inside your head? If you could, would you let it out?
This is the same question that we ask before we hire someone or make a business decision. What answer is out there that everyone else refuses to accept? Social science is pretty clear that human beings aren’t great at going out on a limb. It’s a survival mechanism. From an evolutionary perspective it makes perfect sense. However, when you’re trying to solve a complex problem, sometimes you have to think differently to advance and the ones that become great at solving problems always say to turn off the doubters and think independently.
In a world demanding conformity and homogenization, if you’re trying to achieve something beyond the status quo you are by definition required to be different. That is why Terrapin is different.
Last Commentary we discussed the need to look at our roles as stock traders, or financial advisors rather than gatekeepers. A quick review of the ROI of government relations and how too many companies and GR reps are on the sidelines shows why there are “winners” and “losers” in the GR game. Too many people try to conform and only think to attain what it is they think they should do, rather than thriving based on what they could do.
Too many companies claim the government is too risky, and tell themselves they are all too happy to sit on the sidelines while other players engage and achieve results. Yet, internally, it becomes a meat grinder and the GR staff becomes a stock watcher rather than a rainmaker.
The time to get off the sidelines is now. There is an alternative and it isn’t any riskier than letting your competition write the rules and regulations that govern you and your industry.
The smart money is all in, and riding the wave isn’t doing the right thing, it's doing nothing.
