Today I'm writing about something that's really close to my heart, and that I've been thinking a lot about for a few years: how to make our own unique contribution.
Throughout this year, as my plans have been completely disrupted and altered, I’ve been thinking on the many paths I could take in life and work. There are expectations from family, friends and society about which job a 30 year old should take and how to lead life day-to-day. I believe all of us want to make a unique contribution, but balancing conformity and individualism is hard.
A couple of years ago, I came across a TEDtalk by Jacque Attali (see English review), in which he talks about becoming yourself. He urges us to lead our lives as if it’s a piece of art 🖌️ and lists three steps on that journey:
Do a job no one else could do better than you
Do only beautiful things
Lead multiple lives (because a real artist wouldn't work on only one piece of art)
Whilst all three steps are interesting, the first one caught my attention: to do a job no one else can do better. It’s a revolutionary principle in today’s economy where most jobs are standardised, making employees easily replaceable. Let’s look at how successful startups find their niches as an analogy to our own careers (and life).
For a startup to succeed, it needs to identify a specific niche and offer the best product/service. This is oftentimes referred to as category leader. For example, the search engine DuckDuckGo distinguishes itself from Google by protecting the privacy of its users. If DuckDuckGo were only a keyword search engine, they would be in direct competition with Google, a fight any company would lose.
We can take the same approach with our careers. Whatever job we choose to do, (accountant, chef, pilot or anything else) how can we create our own category and stand out from the crowd and competition?
You might say everyone is replaceable and there will always be someone better at a job — but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Think of a local shop you really enjoy going to as the owner is particularly friendly and helpful. Arguably, no one could replace the owner because she is what makes the shopping experience unique. You might even be willing to pay a little bit more in that shop compared to another one.
If you are in a job where you can bring more of yourself, your customers will enjoy interacting with you, your managers will want to keep you and the job gets more interesting. You are also harder to replace (because only you are you) and can ask for a higher pay.
It’s beautiful to think of our lives as a piece of art. Art needs no boundaries and is by definition unique. But being an artist isn't easy and requires bravery. To create something unique, you must risk failing. When in a position where no one can replace us, we can’t hide behind procedures, standards and bureaucracy. You become more accountable in your job and must take responsibility for the outcomes, but you will also make a unique contribution.