This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while now, but I recently re-discovered it and decided to give it another read. If you’re not familiar with it, order yourself a copy on Amazon. It’s a quick read at 127 pages, the font size is huge and there are lots of pictures.
Before I get into the messages that resonated with me, I want to introduce you to the author, Paul Arden. Arden (1940 – 2008) was an influential author and a former creative director for Saatchi and Saatchi at the height of their advertising might. He spent 15 years with the agency and handled accounts including British Airways and Toyota. In 1992, he left Saatchi and began directing commercials. He also had a passion for photography and set up a gallery called Arden & Anstruther with his wife Toni in Petworth, West Sussex.
What Wikipedia doesn’t know about Paul Arden is that his management style was legendary. When something wasn’t up to his standards, he often expressed his displeasure by jumping up and down on it. Yet the majority of those who worked with him cite his great passion and unyielding perfectionism as inspirational. Basically he was the man, like Steve Jobs.
“It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be” (going forward I will abbreviate to INHGYA) was Arden’s first book, a quirky combination of wit and wisdom that sold more than half a million copies. There are many reasons I love this book. It is simple and straightforward, almost every sentence is quote-worthy and it applies today just as much as it did in 2003. No matter what stage you are at in your life (student, intern, graduate, professional or unemployed) you should read it. Think of it as common sense that, well, isn’t so common.
“Without having a goal it’s difficult to score.”
This seems so obvious, but for many people (myself included) there are times when it is not. When I moved from Phoenix to Austin, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had been in editorial for years and enjoyed my work, but I didn’t know a single soul in Austin and I wasn’t sure whether to continue on my path or jump ship and explore other territories. For a while, I did freelance projects and applied like crazy to every job in the Writing/Editing section of Craigslist. It took six months, countless days of resume polishing and a short-lived admin job for me to finally realize that I was bored and unhappy because I wasn’t setting my sights on specific goals, and I wasn’t going after my ideal career. At the time, I was too concerned about finding something quickly and paying the bills. Since then, I have shifted my focus to the big picture and I currently make lists to organize my personal and professional goals, for example, starting a blog. And it works! This post is proof.
“Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.”
As a writer and editor, I have really gotten to know criticism over the years. Some people give it to you straight. Some beat around the bush. Some present a positive and a negative together to lighten the sting. I’ve seen it all, and I’ve doled it out, too. But no matter how long you’ve been repeating the process, it’s always kind of awkward. Arden writes, “…If you have produced a pleasantly acceptable piece of work, you will have proved to yourself that it’s good simply because others have said so. It is probably ok. But then it’s probably not great either.” He goes on to suggest that instead of seeking approval for things, we ask, “What’s wrong with it?” By asking people this question instead of just saying, “Tell me what you think,” and pausing for their nod of approval, you will almost always come away with constructive criticism. In my own career, I have found criticism to be extremely beneficial, often yielding a better idea than the one I originally started with. You just have to get past the natural reflex to take it personally.
“Do not covet your ideas. Give away everything you know, and more will come back to you.”
Like many others, I have fallen victim to the belief that by keeping my ideas to myself, I can prevent others from stealing them and taking the credit from me. Arden’s wisdom on this subject is right on. In INHGYA, he writes, “The problem with hoarding is you end up living off your reserves. Eventually you’ll become stale. If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish.” This is probably one of the most genius statements I have heard in my life. I hate to burst your idea bubble, but chances are someone out there has already had your idea and they are either 1) Hoarding it until the “perfect opportunity” just like you are, or 2) They are actually doing something about it. Be the person doing something about it. Get a patent, start sketching it out, buy the Web domain, etc. And if you don’t have time to execute your great idea, share it with someone who will. Ideas come and go, and chances are you’ll have an even better one down the road.
“The person who doesn’t make mistakes is unlikely to make anything.”
Getting ahead usually involves taking risks and putting your ideas out on the table for criticism, and most of us are afraid of those things. So, we stay in our comfort zones for fear of making a big mistake and … what? Being wrong? Getting fired? Having to start over? It probably wouldn’t even come to that, but if it did, would starting over really be SO bad? Reflecting on your life and the major decisions you’ve made, I guarantee most of the forward movement has been a direct result of mistakes you made along the way and detours you took to get back on track. In INHGYA, Arden quotes theatre director Joan Littlewood: “If we don’t get lost, we’ll never find a new route.” I couldn’t agree more. I know it’s cliché, but mistakes only make you stronger in the end. If I wouldn’t have accidentally sent an inappropriate e-mail to my boss years ago in college, I would never be such a detail-freak like I am today. (Yes, that really happened.) And if I wouldn’t have struggled and withdrew from an English Lit course Sophomore year, I may have never entered the field of journalism and mass communication.
To close, here is one last nugget of awesomeness from Paul Arden:
“Aim beyond what you are capable of. You must develop a complete disregard for where your abilities end. Nothing is impossible.”
