So you're unique, or not

For you to add value - you can’t just do what someone else does.

That race is run - and that age is fading.

Assembly-line workers are like assembly-line parts - interchangeable, replaceable and only worth the lowest price or least inconvenient experience.

And for all our intense, mission-minded confidence in our passion leads us to imagine what we're doing is not like anything, anyone else has done - ever!

But doing what will be missed if it’s not done by you is THE alternative we all look for.

The effervescent server who makes you feel seen and welcome... the writer who seems to know your problems and leads you to a solution... or value-add content marketer of submersible pump repair giving engineers confidence they need to sleep at night - these are all examples of those who see what others don’t seem to see (and are different - that is - would be missed if they didn’t do what they do).

This doesn’t mean they are irreplaceable - just that assembly-line, interchangeable parts businesses and organizations and nonprofits will revert to the mean when ‘those who will be missed’ are gone.

Doing what anyone else can do is a great way to fit in jobs in fearful, insecure organizational cultures.

If you see what others around don’t see, don’t worry... and don’t give up. The world is turning in your direction... it just might take some longer for the bulb to light.
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