I wanted toast (and now I have toast)

Now is not the first time families and businesses have had to adapt to a new way of doing things.

Revolutions throughout history brought about great change, and humanity has always found a way through the chaos. The question isn’t, “Are we going to make it through this,” but rather, “Who is going to decide what the new normal looks like?”

In the midst of chaos lies opportunity, but only for those willing to pursue it.

Boston Legal is a dramedy from the mid 00’s featuring a cast of legendary actors. Although their characters were cartoonish in nature, William Shatner, James Spader, Candice Bergen and others delivered surprisingly deep and weighty performances about the most pressing matters of the day.

Noteworthy was Christian Clemenson’s character Jerry Espenson, a brilliant but socially awkward attorney who discovers he has high functioning autism.

Clemenson’s nuanced portrayal of Asperger’s syndrome, as it was called then, brought public awareness to the spectrum (even if it has since received pushback for mischaracterizing the syndrome more as Tourette’s). It garnered him three Emmy nominations and one win for his guest starring role.

In one episode early in the show’s run, Jerry is panicked and goes to his friend Alan for help:

Jerry: My dad is a mathematics professor at Cornell and he’s always saying, “May I have some toast?”

Alan: I don’t understand.

Jerry: He says it over and over again. “May I have some toast? May I have some toast?” And eventually he says it enough and someone always gives him toast.

That silly exchange has stuck with me for over a decade. What does it mean, and what can we learn from it?

On #hustle culture

“If you’re not successful, you just haven’t worked hard enough for long enough yet.”

That’s the clear and consistent messaging on Instagram. It has shaped an entire generation’s relationship with work and how to derive meaning from life.

Gary Vaynerchuck is probably the most prominent public figure associated with what is now known as #hustle culture. Much has been written and said about him, and I highly recommend Tiffany Ferg’s excellent video essay on the subject.

The implication of this messaging is that if you aren’t successful (which in-and-of-itself is open to interpretation) you have to work even harder than you already are, even if you’re burning out, and for an indefinite amount of time.

There are three critical points I believe are left out of typical #hustle culture messaging.

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Luck

Not one truly successful person, however, you measure it, got there without an element of luck.

Luck may come in the form of chance encounters (being seated next to someone important on an airplane), chance (winning the lottery), privilege (being born into a wealthy or well-connected family), timing (just happened to start a business right before culture shifted in that direction), or other means.

Rarely are successful people made solely of luck. It is almost always combined with talent, hard work, and yes, persistence. But never is success found in the absence of good fortune.

If you’re not successful, it may not be you have to work harder, or longer. Maybe you just haven’t had your lucky break yet.

Clarity

Do you have a clear understanding of what problem you’re solving? Do you know how to communicate it to the right audience?

Lack of clarity is the most common problem I find in my work as a coach for small business owners, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and aspiring TEDx speakers. And for good reason: getting really clear on what you do, why you do it, and how what you do will benefit those you seek to serve, is really, really hard.

People always talk about elevator speeches, but have you ever talked to a stranger in an elevator? It’s way too long.

Can you describe what you do, why you do it, who it’s for, and how it will solve their problem in 8 seconds? Learn to do that and you’ll probably discover success is just around the corner.

In case you need some inspiration, here’s a quick blog about the world’s shortest joke.

The idea itself

Not all ideas are good. Most are bad. And your idea could be “bad” for a variety of reasons:

• There aren’t enough people with the problem you’re solving to make it financially viable.
• The people who have the problem you’re solving don’t realize they have that problem.
• Your solution is too expensive for the kind of people who have the problem you’re solving.
• The solution you came up with introduces more difficult problems than the original problem you tried to solve.

If your idea has any of these issues, no amount of hard work or persistence is going to make you successful.

And if you’ve bought into the messaging that you haven't been successful yet because you simply haven’t worked hard enough or long enough, you’ll waste a lot of time and energy on a bad idea that would never work, regardless.

How to get toast when you want toast

Jerry Espenson’s story about his father is presented as a tale of persistence. He kept trying and so eventually he was successful. But I contend there’s a lot more going on.

First, his father’s idea was a perfectly good one. He wanted someone to get him toast. There’s plenty of people capable of doing that at basically no cost, financial or otherwise.

Second, he was abundantly clear on what he wanted: “I want toast.” No one had to guess or stretch to understand what he was asking for and how it would benefit someone (in this case, himself).

And finally, he was lucky there were kind, generous people in his immediate vicinity willing to go get him toast. Had he been alone in the middle of the woods, he could have repeated “I want toast” until he was blue in the face without success. No amount of persistence will get you there in the absence of luck.

We are living through a time of tragedy but also tremendous opportunity. While it’s true that people are tightening their wallets out of self-preservation and uncertainty, those same people are still willing to pay for something they believe is worthwhile and beneficial to their lives.

Whether you’re selling a product or idea, or interviewing for a new job, this is the time to get very clear on what you do, who it’s for, and how it helps them. It’s time to seriously evaluate your idea and decide whether it’s a good one worth pursuing at all.

And finally, if you’re very clear and sure that your idea is a good one, but still having trouble finding success, the answer may not be that you need to work yourself to the bone for another 10 years.

You just haven’t been lucky yet. So, are you prepared to slog it out until that lucky break comes? Is this idea worth it?

Only you can answer that question.

I wish you the very best on getting your toast. Just remember it’s not the only option for breakfast.

Adapting to Anything

My guest on the Beyond Networking podcast this week is the epitome of adapting.

Norman Ng was a nationally touring, award-winning magician who, after ten years, left it all behind to save his family. His next venture? Saving and manufacturing impossible-to-find parts for old tractors.

And the kicker?

This new business, iSaveTractors, is bigger and more lucrative than his previous career in magic could have ever been.

Listen to our conversation here, or watch below: