Reality Shows, Michael Jordan, and Your Career
I call them the “Darwin shows.” They’re the TV shows that take several weeks to determine who the fittest of a particular type might be.
I don’t like all of them. I can do without the ones where people consume things that would gag a goat or the ones where over-the-hill athletes and television “personalities” I’ve never heard of have dancing competitions. Shows that include juggling, playing anything other than a musical instrument, or gargling are out.
What I really like are the shows where people who know how to do something I don’t know how to do compete. So Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Project Runway and Design Star are all on my watch list.
Thanks to the magic of Tivo, we watched the final episode of Design Star last night. Antonio won. Dan lost. Here’s the conversation my wife and I had.
Me: “I thought Dan was a better designer.”
My wife: “Me too, but he wasn’t as good on camera. That’s what they want.”
Whether you agree with that assessment or not, or whether you even care, there’s a lesson in this for your career. Your “best” isn’t always what it takes to get hired or get the great promotion.
The process matters. Whatever it is, you have to succeed at it, or your “best” won’t get the opportunity to triumph. If you have spelling errors on your resume or mistook the picture of the boss’s wife for one of John Madden, your show gets cancelled.
Sometimes your best isn’t the best. There are times when you may have great skills but the person you’re competing with has better skills. This can change. Michael Jordan, perhaps the best basketball player ever, was, indeed, cut from his high school team once.
Sometimes you have great skills but they aren’t the skills that are most important to the person making the decision. See the conversation between me and my wife about the designers. Or note that Michael Jordan was drafted behind Akeem Olajuwon because the team drafting him needed a center.
And sometimes, the people making the choice make the wrong one. In that same draft, Sam Bowie, who wound up having a long but undistinguished NBA career was drafted ahead of Jordan, as well as future Hall of Fame players John Stockton and Charles Barkley.
You may not always be the best. You may be the best, but not make the cut. You may be the best at one thing when they’re looking for something else.
That’s tough. That’s life. It’s one of those situations where it’s not your fault, it’s just your turn. Your career won’t be derailed if you miss one good job or one promotion you thought you deserved. Unless you let it.
