Heresy I know. Isn’t success enough?
Success is being above average. To get promoted to supervisor in most organizations I just have to be a little better than average. If I work hard and stay above average I probably have a shot at manager in a few years. If I make manager aren’t I successful? What if my car, my house and vacations are above average? Am I successful now? What if my kids go to college?
These are all fine things, but everyone is above average (and therefore successful) in something. Being above average almost always is vague, generally self-centered and generally speaking unremarkable.
Let’s face it most often, above average, no matter how you slice, is still pretty average.
In the remarkable economy, ‘above average’ IS pretty normal. And in the remarkable economy, being ‘average’ is a formula for blending in.
In the remarkable economy, blending in is failure. You weren’t’ meant to be like everyone else. You weren’t even meant to be a little bit better than everyone else. You were meant to be like YOU. Being a little bit, or even a lot, better than everyone else in material terms rarely holds anyone’s interest or loyalty.
So success as we defined it in the last economy is not going to cut it in the new economy. Time to focus on remarkability.
