being the exception

Being The Exception

The eggplants were outgrowing
the cages placed around them.

A loved one suggested
I simply take off the cages.
The eggplants should be
large enough
to fend for themselves.

I was tempted to do that.
Replacing the cages
with larger ones
was work
and required more chicken wire.

Maybe the squirrels and rabbits
wouldn’t target the eggplants
this time.
Maybe this time
would be the exception.

You and I both know
that exceptions are…
well…exceptional.
They rarely occur.

I replaced the cages.

Don’t bet
your entire business
on being the exception.

Long shot bets rarely pay off.

Are You Truly The Exception?

Polio is making a resurgence.

There’s a vaccine for Polio, of course.

But there is a tiny percentage
of our population
who can’t get vaccinated.

If everyone else
is vaccinated,
however,
the virus doesn’t spread
and
those fragile few are protected.

Except…
it isn’t merely the fragile few
who aren’t vaccinated now.

More and more people
are choosing not to get vaccinated
and that is putting
EVERYONE at risk.
Viruses now have an opportunity
to spread and evolve,
possibly evading vaccines.

This applies to business
also.

If 20 percent of books, for example,
placed in the romance category
didn’t have a romantic happy ever after,
readers would no longer trust
books in the romance category
to give them that happy lift.
Sales would plummet
for ALL romance writers.

If everyone is the exception,
programs or concepts
won’t work for anyone.

Think hard
before being one of those exceptions.

If You’re The Exception

When many of us think
of a politician,
we think of a liar,
someone who makes promises
he’ll never keep.

A local politician
appears honest to a fault.
He tries hard
to keep his promises.
If it is at all possible,
he does what he says
he will do.

I say ‘appears’
because, after decades of knowing him,
I still don’t trust
he’s honest.

Simply because
he’s a politician.

Seth Godin
shares

“When you hear a boss say
‘people before profits’,
you’re likely to hold back
before baring your soul
and sharing your fears.

“Trust me” is easy to say,
especially when you mean it,
but hard to hear.

Showing tends to beat telling,
and it takes a very long time
to earn trust
when you’re running
counter to culture.”

If you’re the exception,
it will take a long time,
if not forever,
to convince people you’re that exception.

Don’t build your success
around ever convincing others.