Getting Out Of Your Own Way
Notes on learning and the balance between prep and improv.
Was having a conversation in the past year and shared that the final frontier for my professional development was to take acting lessons or be in some sort of live production. Or learning to do stand-up could also be the crux of it as well. The thought of either makes me squirm! But also a slight grin at the same time.
When I shared this idea with the person, they dismissed it and were not so supportive, or in fairness to them, perhaps didn’t understand what I was trying to say, see or do.
I’ve been able to up-skill, re-skill, keep developing and successfully navigate disciplines and industries. So in terms of doing that in the future, I feel confident I'd be able to do it again. But there still feels like something missing on top of this.
When speaking about being able to learn and keep going, reinventing along the way, I am suggesting this in the realm of my reality of course.
Tyler Cowen has spoken to the future of work through the lens of “work that requires emotional intelligence, social skills, and the ability to motivate and manage other humans” and “high-skilled technical work involving computers, algorithms, and data analysis”.
Have a home in either, but also be able to empathize and learn about the other side.
A career trajectory plays out on one side or the other. Some truly gifted people out there can be elite in both.
So my anecdote about studying acting or comedy isn’t to say that’s the pathway for me to become an engineer or doctor, but more to continue on a trajectory that’s in motion, rather than abrupt pivot.
Mind you, one of my favourite stories (of someone I know) was a musician who travelled the world playing music who then at 40 went to chiropractic college and has been a practicing chiropractor for now 25 years. And still plays his fiddle in an Irish band a few times a quarter at a local pub. So take from that what you will.
With enough agency and curiosity, regardless of your discipline, trade, craft or area of expertise - having the tools, content and experiences available today, one can surely find their own path to continuous development.
But, agency and curiosity don’t just exist on demand for everyone. Getting better isn’t a default setting and I wonder how the future looks for employment if you aren’t excelling or improving at things.
I recently stumbled across an undergrad program and shared with a friend saying, “if I were to start all over again, this is what I would do”. But the reality is that, I don’t need to start all over again, I can just go learn this stuff.
(For reference… Symbolic Systems @ Stanford)
Additionally, talking to a colleague this week about how we don't come across many people who are wanting to get better at what they do, instead looking for adjacent or alternative things to do instead. I can empathize with that. Especially when curiosity and alignment to one’s identity are key factor and quality needed to overcome the resistance and hurdles to getting better at something new.
In the zeitgeist I think learning and change has become associated with doing something new and novel, immediately.
It’s a tricky dance.
Where I wanted to lead this piece to, is the notion of “getting out of our own way”.
It was the subject of a conversation with a friend this week. He proposed back a quasi-feedback round of "What I am doing that you would never do?", and "What am I not doing that you would do?". It was a fascinating reflection and of course even as much as we may know someone, it can be hard to truly understand what it is for them to "get out of their own way.”
I felt these two clips below, while both from the world of acting gave some clues. They explore the role of preparation and improvisation in their respective context. They’ve also nudged me towards getting out of my own way a little bit more!
One is from Walter Goggins, and the other JB Smoove from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Enjoy,
Jamie.
