Inconvenient Significance

Everything significant is inconvenient.

There may be some good things that are convenient, though. Holding a door open for someone is good and convenient, given you’re standing right there, but it’s not significant.

Holding it open all day from 2 a.m. to 10 p.m., unpaid, is no longer good. It’s significant. That’s a lot of people’s days you’re putting a positive impression on (assuming you’re not dressed and looking the part of doorperson…). But, assuming if you’re like most, you’d prefer to be asleep at 2 a.m. – obviously this particular significance is extremely inconvenient for you.

I’m all for the idea that there is a limitation we each have to inconvenience. Too much and we lose ourselves. Too much and it back fires. Too much and regardless of what you’re wearing, they might think you’re employed to open the door and significance is lost.

But to do nothing that is inconvenient? That’s a race to the bottom. No promotion. No outlasting the competition. No merit awards. Nothing but the thought of “what If I had done X even if it were inconvenient.”

My team was ideating getting pedicabs for an event. On top of all the other coordination we’re doing, it is 100% inconvenient for us to execute. After discussion, there’s not enough significance to doing it, but that’s not the point. The point is the team didn’t stop thinking the idea through after the immediate fact that it’s inconvenient. The ideation then turned to how can we ensure this inconvenience leads to significance. That’s where the marketers shine.

When does your team stop evaluating once faced with inconvenience? When do you?

Better yet, when was the last time you did something inconvenient?

Stay Positive & Steady Inconvenience Is Key

Garth Beyer
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