The outcome of our lives is dependent on the decisions we make.
Our careers, in particular, will be shaped by the answers that we give to 3 questions.
These questions are:
- What do you want to be remembered for?
- Do you want to be someone or do something?
- Are you okay with not getting the credit?
We will be asked these same 3 questions often. How we answer will determine our career paths, and how successful we become.
Using the life of a fighter pilot as an example, we see how his decisions shaped his future. And in how following his example in clarity of thought and consistency in answering, we can shape our own.
The Mad Major
John Boyd was a US Air Force fighter pilot with a career defined by the answers he gave to these questions.
Robert Coram’s excellent book ‘Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War’, tells how his answers transformed the US Military’s future.
Boyd is perhaps best known for the OODA loop, but it was his work on aircraft design and tactics that changed the military. This work spanned his entire career.
Boyd was a man who stayed true to what he believed in. Whilst some thought him mad, others thought him brilliant. Nobody thought him anything but determined.
Using some specific examples from the book, we see Boyd’s answers shape his career and influence the careers of others.
We see also that although we each have our answers to give, our careers and achievements are always intertwined with the answers of others. Boyd’s career is a testament to this.
Some opposed him, others helped him along the way. Other still — likeminded in their desires — became his ‘Acolytes’. Together Boyd and his Acolytes go on to change their part of the world, forever.
How this applies to us
Although we may not always realise it, these same three questions are also asked of us.
We may only have been answering subconsciously so far. But with the realisation that our careers are being shaped by the answers we give, we can learn to give better answers. Answers that can help us get what we want out of our careers, and our lives.
Question One: What do you want to be remembered for?
The question seems straight forward.
You want to be remembered for the impact that you had. This impact is your legacy. It’s what you leave behind after you’re gone.
John Boyd spent his life making an impact. Many examples demonstrate this throughout the book. But it is in an example where he is only indirectly involved that we begin to understand how legacies are built.
Want a legacy? Decide quickly!
If you don’t decide what you want your legacy to be within the first few months of being in a job, you won’t have one!
At least that the advice that a seasoned Colonel at the Pentagon gave the new Secretary of Defence, James Schlesinger.
The reason behind the advice was this: if he didn’t decide quickly, Schlesinger would become so bogged down in the detail of the job that he would never get round to delivering anything that amounted to a legacy. He was told to pick a few projects quickly and see them through to conclusion.
Schlesinger chose one of John Boyd’s projects. This project was to develop an aircraft that would revolutionise the Air Force.
Schlesinger is being advised on how to make an impact in a new role. Yes, this is a prominent role, and for most would be a career highlight. But the point is, it’s advice on how to make an impact on his current role — and you don’t need to be Secretary of Defence to apply it.
We often think of leaving a legacy as a summary of our lives. What will I be remembered for? But this more granular approach allows us to see a legacy from a different perspective.
Each assignment or job you take is an opportunity to make an impact. This impact can be done to advance your career or for self-development. It doesn’t matter what your desired outcome is. The role presents an opportunity to build your legacy, and you should take it.
The practical advice is to decide what you want to accomplish before you become so lost in the detail and responsibilities of the role that all you deliver is what’s expected.
Boyd moved jobs countless times. Each time he did though, he worked hard to deliver things that he believed in.
With each role, he developed personally and professionally and built on his ideas and concepts on how aircraft should be designed and flown.
On one such role, Boyd’s answers intertwined with Schlesinger’s answers.
But build your legacy a brick at a time
Boyd was building a legacy, but he was doing it one brick at a time.
Schlesinger was building a legacy one brick at a time too.
Both needed each other to build this part of their legacy.
This example illustrates some important points we can learn from.
We must remember that -
- Legacies take years to build.
- That we build one brick at a time.
- That it pays to choose what each brick gives us.
- We never build legacies on our own — we always need the help of others.
By understanding this we can focus our attention on continually making an impact as our careers progress and shape the type of career that we want.
Question Two: Do you want to be someone or do something?
This question became known as Boyd’s ‘Be someone or do something’ speech. He used it to challenge promising ‘candidates’ with the potential to become Acolytes.
Did they want to do something with their lives or just become someone?
We all know the cliche. We all know people who fit the cliche. And we all know people who pull it off without becoming the cliche.
The ‘company men’ the ‘suits’. Whatever the term may be, the assumption is the same — these guys fall in line. They rock the boat enough to make the kind of changes that are welcomed, but not enough to tip everyone out and really shake things up.
As Boyd was a man with a binary way of looking at the world, you were either a maverick or a suit.
Throughout the book, Boyd continually asserts that the military is made up of two types — those that want to be someone (the suits who get promoted to the top jobs) and those that want to get things done (who typically only get promoted so far).
I don’t know the military and this won’t be true for everyone in every situation regardless, but there is a truth in it.
The path less trodden or the path well-trodden?
To get to a top position within an established company you’re more than likely going to have to follow a certain path. Fit a certain profile. There will be expectations concerning the experiences, behaviours and skills you’ll need before you’re considered for promotion. That’s just the way it works.
This is Boyd’s ‘being someone’.
To build, create, or deliver something that you truly believe in means following your own path. It means taking the less conventional route — not fitting in. It means going your own way despite the consequences to get things done.
This is Boyd’s ‘do something’.
You can go your own way, but it comes at a cost
There’s nothing wrong with either approach. Both can be extremely satisfying. It’s a personal choice.
And of course, you can achieve great things by being someone, many do. But the distinction Boyd is making is that if you believe in something and want to make it happen, you’re going to have to go your own way — and that comes at a cost.
The cost may be getting overlooked for promotion because you won’t toe the line. Or it may be giving up a good job with good prospects because it doesn’t fit with what you really want to do.
If you decide to ‘do something’, only you will know the cost and if it’s worth paying.
Boyd and his Acolytes all chose to pay that cost. In his eyes, they chose to do something over being someone.
Boyd stayed true to his ideas on what aircraft should be and how they should be flown. He was overlooked for promotion many times because of his unwillingness to bend, but he never changed course — and because of this he and his Acolytes made military history.
Question Three: Are you okay with not getting the credit?
The third question is perhaps the one you’ll be asked most often, and it will be the hardest one to consistently answer.
Boyd and his Acolytes were keeping a low profile on their project on aviation theory and aircraft design so as not to attract any unwanted attention. This was to avoid the project being derailed by the ‘suits’ who wanted to maintain the status quo and did not believe in his tactics.
A challenge in doing so, however, was that one of his team (who was also his immediate boss at the time) kept trying to score points with his superiors and get credit for the work they were doing.
This resulted in a confrontation which saw Boyd tell him “If you insist on getting credit for the work you do, you’ll never get far in life. Don’t confuse yourself with the idea of getting credit”
Results or Recognition?
Boyd was more concerned with getting things done. To him, the result was more important than recognition. He worked relentlessly on something he believed in, undeterred, even as others eventually took the credit.
Would you do the same?
This is a question your career will ask you often. ‘No’ will not be an easy answer to give. But the conventional wisdom is that if you can, you’ll achieve success more often.
If the important thing is that the project gets delivered and the results are achieved, does it matter who gets the credit?
All always trying to get the credit does is get in the way of your progress. Plus, it’s likely to seriously annoy your colleagues!
Shaping your future
Boyd’s consistency in answering his questions is remarkable. Despite being overlooked for promotion of many occasions and branded as a troublemaker for his efforts he stayed true to what he believed in.
The success achieved was even more remarkable. His aircraft design, theory and tactics revolutionised every air force in the world, yet he was not given then credit he deserved at the time.
True to character, it did not deter him. The results were more important than recognition.
As your career progresses, you will be faced with these same 3 questions. I certainly have, albeit without necessarily recognising it.
I have learned through experience though that the Pentagon Colonel’s advice is correct. You are better to choose projects you want to personally deliver soon into a new job.
Building up momentum to take on additional projects after you’re immersed in the day-to-day is hard work and mentally draining. Better to get going sooner than later and change the scope if you find you’re on the wrong track.
The more often you do this, the more competence you will build in your areas of focus. The more bricks you will lay.
Whether you want to be someone or do something is a personal choice. I believe you can have a career that benefits from experiencing both.
I worked for a Fortune 500 company for many years. There, ‘being someone’ was the way to progress. I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. Several years ago I decided to experience something different that grew into ‘doing something’ instead.
I’m not sure I would have chosen to ‘do something’ if I hadn’t tried to ‘be someone’ first. The experience was invaluable.
But leaving the conventional path does come at a cost, so you have to be sure it’s one you’re willing to pay.
Finally, I have been guilty of wanting the credit so often it would be easier if I counted the times I hadn’t.
But, I am learning, that for me, progress is more important. I want the results more than recognition — but I also need to remind myself of that daily!
Here’s what I now know:
Each time you’re asked one of these questions, your answer will shape your career. To build a successful career — whatever you define success to be — means answering consistently.
This means thinking through what you want your answers to be.
To do this, ask yourself:
- What do you want to be remembered for — Do this every time you start a new job or project.
- Do you want to ‘be someone’ or ‘do something’ — Do this every time you have a career choice to make
- Are you okay with not getting the credit — Do this every day
Whether you choose to go your own way or follow a more conventional path is your choice — but consistently laying bricks and not always looking for the credit will deliver better results.
Originally published at http://www.alessonfromlyrics.com on June 26, 2020.
