I keep coming back to Seth Godin’s Linchpin, and the concept of shipping: The linchpin gets the job done on time. Shows results. Delivers deliverables. Shipping is one of the major dividing lines between being a workaday Joe or Jane and an inspired and inspiring contributor.
But projects can run out of gas for a variety of reasons. New management, slashed budgets, market shifts, legal issues, and more.
Maybe you were assigned to lead a process improvement team or were about to roll out the product to end all products. Without warning, you’re bounced. Sorry, we don’t need your help on this one now.
You thought you were a linchpin. Linchpins ship. Now that’s been taken from you.
So how, exactly, do you ship when you can’t?
1. Ship what you can. Write a wrap-up report, giving kudos to those who deserve them. Include thoughtful projections and recommendations. Provide it to your stakeholders, or to the new PM, if you’ve been replaced. Let them know you appreciate the opportunity to serve, albeit briefly. Mean it.
2. Take it as a compliment. If you’re being pulled to work on something else, look on it as confirmation of your value. Your expertise was simply needed elsewhere. If there was some diabolical machination behind your removal, tell yourself it’s still confirmation of your value. Easy to say, hard to do, I know. Do it anyway.
3. Speak well of the experience. Yeah, I know it hurts. Take it on the chin (as best you can). For all you know, your next project, a much shinier one, could be on its way, based solely on the fact that you behaved like a stand-up guy or gal. It happens more often than you might think. It happened to me. It can happen to you.
You are indeed what you ship. Get into the shipping habit, no matter what.
And read Linchpin, as well as Seth Godin’s other great books. Life-changing stuff.
