In his most recent book, “The Practice,” Seth Godin makes the case for showing up, and creating “art” consistently. His definition of art includes anything that “might not work.” The idea is, in today’s world, while most are looking for a playbook or a recipe, the most interesting projects don’t have one. To stand out, you need to allow yourself to try things, over and over. You need to create a “practice.”
I am a fan of Seth Godin, so it should serve as no surprise that I love this.
By this definition of art, so many things can get better by creating a practice. It gives us fewer places to hide. I was having a conversation yesterday about the art of sales during this pandemic. The person I was talking to said that some people really struggled to do their job during this “zoom era” because they were just not cut out to do zoom calls. I stopped her.
“That is an excuse,” I said. “Plain and simple.”
The idea that you are not “cut out to do zoom” is a way of hiding. It’s an excuse that lets you off the hook, so that you don’t have to do the work. No one was born to do zoom (or write, or drive a car, or write a blog). You grow the skill by doing the work…by creating a practice. There are tons of things that you do today that you were not born with the ability to do. You learned them.
It’s goes back to this idea of “when this is over” versus “now that we are here.” The world has changed in the last year. Some things will return…but so many will not. Waiting around for the world to get back to normal is a waste of time. Embrace the skills you need to succeed for today…and it will pay off tomorrow.
As a side note, I am proud that Bill Petrie and I chose to create a practice of podcasting several years ago. We were featured in this PPB article highlighting winners of the industry Pyramid Awards. What an honor!
Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing, a full service marketing agency located in Ohio. Learn more about Hasseman Marketing here. And if you are interested in have him speak at your next event, you can learn more here.
