Stop being a hero

Bill Green
Jul 24, 2017 · 3 min read

We grow up in a world of heros. TV shows, movies and comics, from the entire Marvel universe down to My Little Pony are about being a hero. Every stupid TV show that my four-year-old watches is about saving the day. Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Sherlock — something goes horribly wrong, but our hero saves the day. Any interview with a sports star seems to have the question, “Who were your heroes growing up?”.

In business we reward the heroes, the people who save the day and make the big deals, but are they really the ones responsible for the successes? I’m not so sure. One of the underlying themes in Jim Collins’ “Good To Great” is it is the people who keep the train from going off the rails that create long-term success.

One of my greatest gifts in life has been a father who is both extremely smart and doesn’t hide much. I remember one car ride home from skiing when he was on the phone ripping his soon-to-be-former IT chief a new rear orifice. The details aren’t important, but the short version is something happened that shouldn’t have (virus, critical data loss, fill in your own worst case scenario) because it was preventable. Not to worry because the IT guru was going to come in on a Sunday afternoon and save the day. What I do remember clearly was my dad holding the phone yelling, “Stop being a fucking hero and do your goddamned job!” and hanging up.

What followed was a lecture about people who let things slide, don’t take appropriate precautions, or allow a situation to develop so that they can come in at the last minute, be a hero and save the day. “The world is full of heroes,” he said. “People want to swoop in at the last second and save the day. They are a dime a dozen and all equally worthless. What you need is people with the foresight to fix a situation before it becomes a problem.”

It doesn’t matter who puts the train back on the track after it crashes, it matters who keeps it on the track.

In life there are skills we set out to learn and others we pick up along the way, and there are some habits I’ve picked up along the way that have morphed into values that shape who I am. One of the big ones is the concept of thinking through what’s next. This means constantly evaluating where things are, what is going on, what are the next five things that need to happen, what are the next five things that could go wrong, and what do I need to do right now to prevent that.

If I am working with a client on a crisis communication plan, that is what is in my head. If I am planning a video project for a client in the middle of the desert, that is what is going through my head. When I am driving inches away from a half-million-dollar truck, at high speed on a shelf road with my partner hanging out the window holding $60,000 of camera equipment, this is what I’m thinking about. All that and my dad’s voice yelling in my head, “Don’t be a fucking hero.”

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Communication strategist, writer, photographer, adventure traveler.

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