I'm Anti-professional
About a decade ago I always wore a tie to work.
Apart from constricting oxygen to my brain – I suspect the real reason corporate drones make such stupid decisions – it made me feel big and clever and proper.
And as a mid-20 something entrepreneur, the ego inflating exercise of wearing a tie helped me sit at the big boys' table without really earning it.
It rotted my soul.
Because in my opinion, and in the opinion of the cantankerous (but very often right) Nassim Taleb, you should choose the surgeon who doesn't look like a surgeon, the lawyer who doesn't look like a lawyer, the accountant, the dentist, the gastroenterologist – you get the point.
And why should you choose them?
Because they had to work much harder to get there.
The fickle judgements of society were stacked against them. So to get to where they are they had push harder, work more diligently, and get better results than your stereotypical Harvey Specter from Suits.
Speaking of which:
I ended up in the wrong rooms. With the wrong people. Who had the wrong idea of me. And when my skillset atrophied because people believed I was more than I really was, I paid the price with several lost clients.
That's why I stopped wearing ties and wore whatever I wanted. And without the safety blanket of that neck constricting device, I got good. Because appearances didn't matter now, results did.
And this is the crucial lesson I learned that stuck with me ever since:
Don't try to be professional. Don't be unprofessional, that'll get you nowhere. Instead, be anti-professional.
Which means:
*No smooching the caboose (one for Tenacious D fans)
*Seasoning your marketing with chill sauce
*Being yourself, regardless if people like it or not
*Not caring what others think
*Disagreeing with the client if they're wrong
You get the point.
These things I think of as anti-professional. Something ChatGPT and other nicey-nicey AI tools can't handle – they're always sitting on the fence avoiding offence at all cost.
Anyway, what's this got to do with anything?
I'm thinking about launching an Anti-professional business group of some kind. Could be a workshop. Could be a community. It's just a very raw idea I'm chucking at the wall at this point.
If anything I've said here hits home, reply and let me know why.
And if you want to be part of the movement towards being Anti-professional, let me know.
Joseph Pack