If you're smart, you want to buy things, use services and employ people who have proven themselves, right?

It makes decision making easier, and we're more comfortable with it. We feel like we're doing the right thing by checking the qualification, the certificate, or past results.

But hang on, what does 'proven' really mean?

Doesn't it mean 'proven in the past'?
Doesn't it mean 'proven under a specific set of circumstances?'
Doesn't it mean, 'proven in a world which no longer exists?'

So how's something that's 'proven' going to perform when moving ahead once the game has changed? And why are so many large 'proven' organisations and industries unstable and falling apart?

Things change so fast these days, I'm coming to think that 'proven' has a very short life span. It could mislead you down the wrong career or business path. 'Proven' might not be the best decision. 'Proven' is beginning to prove that it's no longer a robust strategy.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm an Civil engineer by degree (it's proven, although don't trust me to build you a bridge) and I love to measure things, re-engineer them, see what works and make things work better. Particularly when it comes to people. But I can't get away from the fact that these days, if you continue to do what's proven, you're going to get EATEN ALIVE by your competition.

If Larry Page and Sergey Brin were held back by decision makers who just wanted 'proven', then how would Google have ever taken off? And what about the folks at Twitter? Was the success of Twitter a high certainty based on 'proven'? Not at all. They didn't even really intend it to be what it is now. They built the platform and the users got creative and increased its value.

And how likely is it that these people create a new winning product or service that takes the world over, just because they 'proved' themselves in the past? They might. People will back them for sure. But what's the unproven competitor doing meanwhile, passionately working on his laptop in his garage with nothing much to lose by introducing his project to the world? Maybe he's about to reset how the industry works?

Many famous actors are 'proven', but I heard recently that on average even the very best actors do only 3 great movies in their career. So do you put these 'proven' actors in your next movie? Will that produce a box office hit? Or do you bet on a new movie that's unproven and totally unique that people will talk about?

Are You Qualified to Perform Well?

What do your qualifications really mean? Do they mean that you'll excel in your career? Do they make you an innovator, a leader, or a great problem solver? Or are you trained and awarded to do things in a way that was once done, under criteria that was once thought of, when things were once as they were?

In the next few years, are you going to get your employer out of the stick they're in? Does your certificate mean that you'll eat your competition alive? Or does it just mean that once, you learned some information and sat an exam, and you happened to be able to recall it, organise it a little and get it down on paper? And how do you apply what you learned for that qualification under pressure when it really matters? Are you going to get the results tomorrow, when things are different, that people are betting on? Sorry, what exactly have you proven again?

"Qualifications prove that you can learn!" I hear some of you say. Well, whoopee. My toddler daughter has proven that too. Actually probably more remarkably so than many certificate holders. Maybe I should stick some extra letters after her name? No, she doesn't need the letters, her behaviour turns heads in public and makes people talk (in a nice way). And she's being highly innovative and applying what she learns right now, on the job. I wonder when that gets drummed out of her? I wonder when a certificate or something 'proven' gives her a sense of accomplishment that stops her in her tracks as the rest of the world progresses around her?

How about increasing your 'luck' and rewards in your work (and life) and going for, say, 80% proven and 20% innovative + promising?

Right, it's Friday, I'm off out to my local Thai restaurant to have my usual. Just kidding.

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You already are one. (That was pretty instant wasn't it?) At least at some things. And you're not so strong at learning other things.

But it's a great start, and more useful than you think. You should be smart and use this strength. Think about what you do outside of work. However you spend your time, you're learning something, most likely in a way that suits you perfectly. Otherwise you wouldn't be doing it. Outside of work is the perfect time for natural self-directed learning. Often you don't even realise you're learning.

Get Online

If you're online, you're learning something. Playing a computer game? You're learning. Maybe you're increasing your spatial awareness, your problem solving, or your creative thinking. Watching a movie? You're learning. Maybe you're learning the story, or about characters. Maybe you're taking away inspiration or lessons about people and life. Maybe you're picking up lessons about business. If you're using Twitter, you're learning about concise communication. And you're learning about what's going on out there in your network.

Turn it on it's head. Try to do something online without learning anything at all. Tricky hey?

The best thing too, is that you don't even realise you're learning when you do these things. You're almost in a state of flow. And you're definitely learning in more ways than you think. You're growing and developing your skills, knowledge and behaviours. These make you who you are, they form your outlook on life, they affect your thinking, which affects your decisions, which affect your actions and your results and rewards. This of course gets transferred back to your work too.

Of course you don't just have to be online to learn. Most activities you do outside of work, you're learning something about something too.

So what's my point here?

When you're in the driving seat, you're a strong learner. And you enjoy it. The problem lies when you have to learn something that you don't feel you want to learn, something apparently really complex, or when you have to learn something in a way that doesn't naturally suit you. And this problem is huge. Most organisations out there haven't yet worked this out. They still think that you should get told what you need to learn (usually so that they can have you doing things their way – not yours. They often fail to focus on important results but instead method). And most think that you should learn it in the way they make available to you. But they're wrong.

So my challenge to you, strong learner, is what are you going to do about it?

Here's my very best advice:

1. Get into your ideal career. In your ideal career, you're strong. And you're on the ball yourself about what you need to learn. You're also naturally drawn towards learning more and more about your work, through learning and experimentation. You're less likely to find things complex to learn, and if you still do then the first thing to question is your approach to learning them. Perhaps there's another way? Almost certainly. See step 2.

2. Learn how to learn effectively. It's a learnable skill. One way is to look at how you love to spend your time outside work (Computer games? Movies? Building things? Chatting away to people? Sitting and thinking? Reading?) Then find a way to combine this approach with what you need to learn. Get plenty of ideas down, then explore them. And consider learning various learning skills such as speed reading, range reading, mind mapping, memory skills, thinking skills and listening skills to name a few. Most people I work with who learn these are stunned by their new abilities.

3. Create a personal 'system' that has you applying what you learn in the right ways at the right times. You need help with this. Everyone does. People just aren't that great at applying what they learn. You need to capture the main ideas you've learned, practice them, and have them accessible and retrievable in the right places at the right times. A support system, tailored to your style is what you need. And everything becomes easier.

I can tell you one thing for sure. Your organisation or employer is likely to be slower than you are to get this right. You can turn quickly. They can't. Well…they won't. And it's you and your career and the rewards you earn that suffers. If you're reading this, I urge you to get in the driving seat and steer yourself in the right career direction, making progress your way for your benefit. Time's ticking (and it ticks faster as you get older doesn't it?)

If you have any comments or tips on how to do this, I'd love to hear them below. And if you think others would like this article, please share it.

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15 years ago, given the choice of the big company with the big name that everyone's heard of, or the unheard of company that's obviously set for major growth, which one would you have chosen to work for?

What about now?

And which are you working for now?

And, sorry to ask a tired question, but I'm just reminding you – where are you planning on being in your career 5 years from now?

Whatever your answer, how are you going to contribute more and more value to get there?

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This video above never fails to intrigue me. I just got back from the movie 'Inception'. It's about a team of people who step into someone's dream in order to plant an idea in their mind that will change their thinking and their decisions (and consequently their actions).

Most people are raving about it, I love the Director's work, Chris Nolan, and I would have loved it if it weren't for the fact that Derren Brown has been doing what the team in the movie went to great lengths to do, for years. I wish, to achieve their objective in the movie, someone just said "go and get Derren Brown." No need for the futuristic technology, large team of people, special sedatives and an intricate plan. Derren Brown could've done it over a pint of beer.

The video above shows Derren Brown tricking comedian Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) into thinking he wanted something else for his birthday (that he didn't actually want).

You Can Do it Too

In fact, you don't even need to be Derren Brown to do this. Anyone can plant an idea 'seed' into another person's head. Then 'water' it with enough relevance and emotional impact to that person, and more supporting evidence, and you may well just change their minds, their decisions, their actions and the path they take in their lives.

Further still, we're all doing this to each other. I certainly try to change minds in my work. So do authors, educators, marketers, advertisers, sales people, and you. You still need to be able to change minds in your work (and in your personal life too) if you want to steer things towards a win:win.

How to Do it

So watch the video above and enjoy learning a trick or two from Derren Brown. Learn how to sell and persuade even if you're not employed as a salesperson (it's a life skill). I fully recommend these books (on the left click on 'sales, marketing and communication' and note there are two pages).

And if you want to take the long over the top (but action packed) hard way round, watch 'Inception'.

Anyone else know any good resources for persuading people and changing minds?

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If you really want that job, what are you going to do that others aren't prepared to do that will put you ahead of the pack?

For this particular role that you want right now, you've only got one bullet. You're going to want to aim, hold steady, pull the trigger and get the bullseye. If you do, your job is done and you won't need to spend any more time or effort applying to other places. But, it's hard isn't it, when…

There's too much competition for jobs these days

Actually, if you're good enough, there's never too much competition. And 'good enough' means:

• having the right (minimum acceptable) skill set (but preferably being damn good in this area)
• having the right attitude and personality for the role (being hungry to learn and grow is useful here)
• clearly demonstrating your interests or passion for this line of work
• being able to effectively convince the decision makers of the above (hint: make it easy for them)

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. If these four points formed a chain, then which one is your weakest? For most people it's the fourth one. Doesn't matter how strong the other three links are, if the fourth is weak, you don't get the job. You miss the bullseye. Your bullet is wasted.

Of course to effectively convince the decision makers, you need to get NOTICED by them and then get them INTERESTED in you, your relevant achievements, and your future goals and ambitions. Hard to do with just a cover letter, CV/resume and application form.

So what else could you do?

I've blogged before about resume alternatives. And I've acknowledged that for many roles, you'll still need to lead with a resume. But here's an idea that's easy to implement, has plenty of other benefits for your own learning, development and career progress, and can come to your aid when you need to stand out, get noticed and get the job you want:

Start a career based blog. Not very exciting advice you say? Hold on, don't go! Don't underestimate this one. Think about it in more depth. What if, once you've decided what your ideal career is and you've identified the right role..what if you had a casually written (updated as and when) but professional career blog that documented things like:

• what you've been working on
• the challenges you've overcome
• the small things you've achieved that have personally satisfied you
• the training you've received
• the learning and development that you've self-directed and plan to self-direct moving ahead
• how you've applied it
• your self-feedback, and learning from mistakes
• your career plans for the future
• your (smart) thinking and reflection about the projects you're working on
• ideas and innovations that you think could work

Don't make this blog a chore, keep it simple, and don't write it expecting a following of readers (however if you get one then that's a bonus). The point is, you have a real-time account demonstrating the things your potential employer is interested in.

Of course if when you come to apply for the position you think any of your old posts would hurt, then remove them or edit them.

Now, all you need to do is get this blog noticed by the right people. So what if you attempted to connect with them through Twitter, Linkedin or even Facebook? What if you joined any social online groups they belonged to, before the application process even begins? What if you made them aware of your blog before they even see your resume, and mention it in your resume as a project you've been working on? You'll need to get them interested enough to type the URL in and find it. So how about purposefully writing the most relevant blog post you can for this particular recruiter? Why not do some research on the company, see what they're currently up against, and blog your intelligent thoughts on the issue? Show your interest. Give it a compelling title, and then in your cover letter, or via social networking, invite them to read that specific post. Which of your competitors are doing something like that?

You have so much more flexibility with this approach than you do with the conventional cover letter, resume approach. You can really show case some important points about yourself, and if you really are aligned to your ideal career, then you'll have little trouble convincing them to invite you in for interview.

When you're at the interview stage for your ideal career, you've basically got the job already (so long as you positioned yourself strategically enough).

So there it is. Give it a go. Yes it takes upfront (and ongoing) investment. But think about the pay off when you need it most. What are you going to do if you don't have one? And think about the skills you'll learn from the exercise itself. It will improve your writing, your thinking, your interaction and networking, your engagement and motivation in what you do, and will provide a useful record to look back on to measure your own progress.

Finally, two pieces of advice about blogging:

1. Use a free service like WordPress (that's what I'm using now) or Blogger and you'll be up and running in 5 minutes.

2.  Learn all you need to about blogging and marketing your blog here at CopyBlogger I've trawled through plenty of resources about blogging, most of them hyped up salesy nonsense, and have recently found this level-headed sensible resource that has tonnes of useful information. You'll probably see me applying much of what I learn in the months ahead!

Any thoughts or questions on this or related, let me know in the comments below and I'll be glad to help.

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I regularly promote the idea that you already run your own business even if you're employed. (Congratulations? Maybe you've always wanted to? Oh, and good luck!) The laws and principals of business apply to you in your career whether you acknowledge them or not. They're like gravity. You can accept them, learn about them and use them to your advantage, or forget about them and be at the mercy of them. Your choice.

The sooner you accept them, the sooner you can take charge of where you want to go, where you're actually going, what and how you'll earn, and who you'll work with. And what challenges and frustrations you're prepared to take on in your career because you enjoy overcoming such challenges, and you're good at it. What a great opportunity to kiss goodbye to the challenges and frustrations that suck the life out of you!

Since you run a business, in my work and blog posts I aim to connect you to business ideas, examples and lessons that you can apply to your own career. I like to help you look at your career through this new lens so you can make progress faster, more easily and more enjoyably. Ultimately I want to help you learn how to earn an enjoyable living.

If you know of anyone who would like to follow my posts, or think that more people could use this way of thinking, then please email this post on (or share it on your social networks). Thanks.

Directions:

If you're unsure what 'business' to get in to, my online e-course The Great Career Escape may help. You can sign up for free. It helps you choose the right business (aka your 'ideal career'). There's also a Facebook page for it here.

If you're interested in the learning and performance side of your business (the engine to your career performance and results) then make sure you're subscribed to this blog (the one you're currently reading), by email or RSS feed and you may also be interested in my site on self-directed learning and performance here. If you know of anyone who deals with learning and performance of their teams or organisation, then please refer this on.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do so here.

And if you have any specific questions for me, please get in touch via the comments below, email, or via Twitter.

On Wednesday I'll send out a post on 'How to Blog Your Way in to a Job'.

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How 'human' are you acting today whilst you work?

Do the people you've spoken to today think you're human in your work, or more machine?

I know you've got to get a serious job done and get paid. You've got to add value and deliver. And I'm not asking you to fake a smile whilst you work, because I don't think that works. But I do wonder what would happen to your productivity, quality of thinking, ideas, relationships, progress, apparent luck and your natural smile, if you dropped the act and brought out your human side in your work more often. The side that naturally comes out at weekends that many people go out of their way to hide at work. You can still be professional and human. Professionalism doesn't mean being a robot. In most interactions you can add that human touch, even if it's not documented in your instructions, and it's often enough to make a big difference to whoever you're dealing with, and to your customers and career progress too. It's potentially very rewarding for everyone.

My advice: go beyond 'the book', and see what your human side can do. Give it a whirl. Maybe you can re-write 'the book' with what you learn?

If you feel you can't be human in your work, perhaps you're working with the wrong people or in the wrong job?

P.S.  I heard that Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University, who developed the theory of multiple intelligences said that 'social intelligence' is the highest paid in our society.

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This might brighten your day. Two days ago I wrote a blog post asking you how much money you'd quit your current job for. I wanted you to attempt to put a monetary figure on the value of your future with your current employer, at least as far as you saw things. It kind of gives you a handle on your employment situation. It might help you make an important career and life decision.

If you were interested in that, you might be interested in where I got the idea for the post. (By the way, this is an example of borrowing an external idea and building upon it, which I wrote about here). I stumbled across the story of how Zappos, the US online shoe store, create a certain culture at work and how they recruit the right sort of people for that culture. There's lots to learn from this.

"The Offer"

I'll cut straight to the part I was really interested in. Most Zappos employees have four weeks paid training at the start of their employment. About one week in, Zappos make an 'offer' (they call it "The Offer") to the new recruits to quit the company and be paid $1,000 + the first week's paid training. They're paying their new recruits to walk away. Of course this forces the employees to put a value on working with Zappos. It gets employees to ask themselves if they're right for Zappos, if Zappos is right for them, and how passionate they are about staying. Many new recruits in other organisations probably don't ask themselves this question. At least not to the point of actually making the decision. Most people just get on the bus, and stay on the bus, putting up with the journey until their hair falls out, or they pull it out. That's why I wrote my last post.

I also heard that less than 10% of new employees at Zappos actually take the money and quit. So they're attracting the right people too.

Watch the Video

This video on the Zappos site is definitely worth watching. It's 9 minutes, it might make you smile, it gives a great idea of the culture they're trying to create, it's clearly a culture that suits the US fine, but don't let that turn your nose up if you're from the UK or Australia (as most of my readers are). Think about an equivalent compelling work culture for your country (or better still, for you). Think about what sort of place you'd like to work at. It doesn't have to be boring, too stiff, too serious, grey walled offices any more, unless that's what you want. Those places are gradually dying out (some are even being wiped out by garage start-ups who change the whole industry). People are realising that good work can still be done in a different culture and environment after all (…well I just mentioned a 'garage'). And that different environments might attract like-minded people and will certainly make different people more productive.

So choose wisely!

If you want help with this sort of career decision, I break it all down for you in The Great Career Escape.

P.S. Just before 6 mins into the video they mention 'The Offer'. In fact, he increases it to $2,000

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I'm talking a minimum figure, obviously.

At what point does taking the money mean more to you than your future career and the lifestyle it enables with your current job or employer?

Get an answer and hold it in your mind. What does it tell you about your career or job choice?

What does it tell you about:

How much you value the path ahead that you're on?
The value you put on the emotional reward from your work?
The value you put on the mental or intellectual reward from your work?
The quality of your relationships with those you work with?
How much of a 'cog in the machine' you feel and how replaceable you feel?
How much you believe in what your employer is doing for the world?
The money you think you could earn in the years ahead with your current employer?
The opportunities to learn, grow, develop and improve your performance in this role, and the rewards this may bring?
How trapped or how free you feel to be yourself, drive yourself, and use your potential to add maximum value to your employer?
How easy or difficult it would be to find something similar, or better?

And if you got that money and quit, what would you do for a new job or career? That money could run out fast. It would only buy you x amount of time, which you'd do well to use sensibly. So how would you find the right career during that time? What's your plan?

Just double check that you're spending your life heading down the right path. If not, you could always run that plan alongside your day to day work for 30 minutes a day…

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In the UK:

“Nearly a quarter of UK employees plan to leave their job in the next 12 months, a survey of 4,000 workers revealed today.”

01 June 2010, study by market research company GfK NOP

In Australia:

An astonishing third of Australian workers are planning to switch jobs, according to a survey”

05 July 2010, study by management consulting firm Hay Group

In the USA:In each of the past three months, more employees quit their jobs than were terminated

07 July 2010, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Whilst I’m not a huge fan of surveys and statistics (because we all know that 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot), I’m sure you know someone unhappy in their work who wants to change career. Perhaps it’s you?

Perhaps you’re sick of feeling like a cog in the machine? Note particularly in this article, “Regrettably, too many managers unwittingly encourage employees to walk out because they regard them as replaceable cogs in a wheel.” I discuss why people have turned into ‘cogs’ and what to do about it in my free e-book ‘Join the Escape‘ which you can download here.

If you’re one of them, or if you know someone who is, if no one else can help, and if you can find it (I’ll make it easy, it’s here), maybe you can join The Great Career Escape (yes, that was something for the A-Team fans..)

Please send this on.

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