(Note: I have set my twitter messages to flow through to my Facebook wall as wall posts)
The other day I revived two different comments letting me know that I had misspelled the word professional on a post and as I was advertising myself as a professional wedding photographer this did not look very professional. (I'm wondering if I can get that word in again somehow.) At first I was a bit embarrassed that I had done this, and in many ways I still am. I did not however dash over to the post and remove it and hope to hide the fact that I misspelled a word. Instead I thought about this and as a result wrote this post instead.
I agree with my friends (you are correct it does not look very good on my part) and I will be more careful in the future. However the point of the post was to let people know that I am a photographer. They will not be hiring me to spell check a document or to proof read something for them. They will however be hiring me to take photos for them. So what does it matter if I can spell or not?
Well the answer is obvious, in the perfect world everyone can spell and everyone does not make mistakes. This is the world that we are trained to be a part of from the first day we are born. This is the same world that does a thorough job of squashing most creativity out of a person by the time they leave elementary school. (Some will not agree with me on this but it is how I feel.) In school we are taught that we must do step 1, then step 2 then step three and we will be rewarded for doing all of these in order and with 100% accuracy.
This model works great, if you are trying to teach someone to be a machine, not so great if you want a creative problem solving thinking individual. (I am not referring to just US schools systems here.) Most of the jobs in the world, until the last few years wanted just that, an automaton that follows rules and procedures. (Ever wonder why when you start a new job you get a through indoctrination into the inner workings of the organization.) The problem with this approach is that it does not work all that great. Most folks become a mindless drone intent on doing only their job and as a result do nothing more than their job. However what the company needs is someone who is willing to take risks and think and act outside the box.
Despite the fact that everyone wants someone who follows directions and does not cause problems they reward the very ones who do just the opposite. An example is in order here. A good friend of mine recently took a new job. In the job she performed basic tasks, it took no thought. Just punch the buttons and collect the check at the end of the week. My friend though has a knack for not keeping her mouth shut when a better way to do things is perceived and quickly was promoted to the head of another section in a different location. In a few days my friend had figured out the system there, re-engineered it to fit her work style. She was able to get the same amout of work done that her predecessor did in one quarter the time. As a result another promotion and more responsibility.
Why did the boat rocker get rewarded while the ones who put their heads down and did their job did not? She rocked the boat for the good of the company and raised her value in the eyes of the right people. As a result she was rewarded. Now you are thinking, but this does not apply to me, this is a rare occurrence. you have to pay your dues to get somewhere. I disagree. If you have to have more proof, look at the entertainment industry. I will take only one example. George Lucas ( I could pick any big name actor, director, singer, or songwriter) went to the movie studio and pitched an idea for a movie. He agreed to be paid a lower rate of pay than most any other director would ask for. The only thing he did insit on for the lower rate of pay was that he get the merchandising rights to his film. At the time this was laughable, so the studio agreed. George went on to make and produce Star Wars. He turned the merchandising world on its head and from the proceeds has become rich. All because he saw a better way of doing it and acted.
Want an example from the business world. Bill Gates, what about sports. Micheal Jordan. All of these folks leveraged their ideas to become superstars in their industry. All because they rocked the boat. Sure my misspelling of a word is not a major rock of the boat, it was not even intentional. However my creativity to put a post on twitter about my business and repost that onto facebook did have a pay off. Another person sent a private mail that day from a similar post asking if I also did Senior Portraits. So I looked a little silly and I took a risk, but it payed off. Website traffic to this blog are up 17% and tot he website they are up over 50% from this time last year. All because I decided to use an internet marketeers idea and promote myself on the twitter and facebook.
So thanks to my friends for pointing out the misspelled word, I will endeavor to do better in the future but thanks as well for the folks who have seen my posts and stopped by the sites. I have more things coming and some articles in the works for the blog in addition to the workshop calendar I already run.
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