The hill I will die on is actually a blue ocean
The hill I will die on is actually a blue ocean
Because then, you can swim right on out of your own way.
The act of traveling comes pre-set with a terrifying and amazing feature: The ability to bend space and time. Why is it, whether you’re on a beach or away on business, that it is SO hard to keep track of what day it is?
Scheduling is top of mind for me because I’m at a conference right now (which is why this newsletter is coming out a bit later than it normally does - hello again, consequences of my own decisions)!
Lucky for me, this conference is in the Caribbean. But before you think my life is too glamorous, please picture me exactly as I am. Which is typing like a madwoman while realising that my laptop is dying while also remembering that I forgot to each lunch and feeling ever more stressed that this is now barely going to make it into any European inboxes before bedtime and definitely not into any American inboxes until at least the commute/happy hour time. SORRY!
Why so manic, you ask? Not because I woke up this morning, checked out the view, and decided to punt today’s topic in exchange for one about oceans. In reality, this topic (which is actually about mindset, not marine biology) has been the topic, and indeed the theme, of August, for weeks.
No, I’m typing manically because this newsletter wasn’t done. It comes out every Monday, and instead of being finished, it has been languishing in my brain and drafts for days. Why? Because, uh, the first draft was not that great. Not that inspiring. More than a little cranky.
But something happened today - something grand. And I want to share it with you, but for it to make any sense, please humor me in this relatively painless vocabulary lesson on “blue oceans.”
Blue oceans - is this a vacation brag or a real thing?
“Blue oceans” are a real concept, and one I cannot take any credit for. It is from a book, called Blue Ocean Strategy, which is one of my top 5 nonfiction recommendations. It’s life-changing. Read it.
(If a book purchase is too much of a commitment, click around on their website. In some way, give your money or attention/clicks to the authors, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, who have done the work to research, explain and popularize this idea of “blue ocean thinking” - because they deserve it. )
According to their website and book, a blue ocean strategy is:
“The simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost to open up a new market space and create new demand. It is about creating and capturing uncontested market space, thereby making the competition irrelevant.”
In their book, they also talk about how to avoid “red oceans”, which are markets that are so competition centric that you have to become cutthroat to succeed. A real swim to the bottom. But thankfully, they share so much valuable knowledge about companies and brands that have found their blue oceans, and how to do it for your business. It’s all golden cerulean.
For today’s newsletter, and for our theme of August, the last four words are the most important.
Making the competition irrelevant.
Now we can go back to my grand thing.
The Background to the Grand Thing™
I’m in the Caribbean because my newly minted husband is running a complex logistical nightmare event, for a sector I work in. And because it has about a thousand moving pieces, I’m also helping him execute it.
Which means I have not had the best time. And that makes sense, right? Compared to someone who is here to only attend, my day to day isn’t as fun. That person gets to be a Conference Human, vs. a Hospitality Human. They get poolside talks and drinks vs. spreadsheets and logistics.
But that isn’t why I’ve not had the best time. No, I haven’t had the best time because on the first day of this event, I was sitting in my room editing the day’s agenda. And as I typed, I realised that 7 years ago, I was doing the exact same thing. I was 24 years old, I was in the Caribbean, and I was running an event. I was creating a schedule, reminding people where to go, handling problems, googling if lemurs could safely drink champagne, etc.
But what was markedly different, THIS time, was what it felt like to be doing this work.
At 24, I was comfortable in my place. I knew that, until I was senior enough to be invited to this sort of gathering on my merits, I wouldn’t be a peer of the attendees. (In a work way, anyway - all humans and all jobs deserve respect regardless.) And that was completely fine. Inspiring, even. I knew my job was to make the magic behind the scenes, not experience the magic. In exchange, after a few years, I would become someone that could experience the magic.
But friends - I was not experiencing the magic. I was fighting with Adobe InDesign. My feet hurt. And in the moments where I could put down the Event Work and take up the Work Work, humans would come ask me about the Event Work, not my Work Work. And fair enough, you know? I’ve been communicating about meal times and activities and agendas. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and holds a clipboard with today’s schedule on it like a duck - it’s an event planning duck. What’s the problem?
Me. I was the problem. I wanted to be a Conference Human. Not a Hospitality Human. I wanted to be a peer, not a facilitator.
Whew. That's a red ocean thought if I’ve ever seen one. Turns out, we run into these at work all. the. time.
The Nice Work approach to “blue oceans”
As we said above, red oceans are cutthroat, “bloody” environments where you identify and compete directly with your competitors for market share. Easy enough to understand in an economic example.
What this looks like INSIDE a human brain is this:
✅ Giving yourself a binary, or otherwise limited, choice - Yes or no. Good or bad. Conference Human or Hospitality Human.
✅ An assumption of competition. There’s no option for there NOT to be competition, in other words. It’s just how it is.
Whereas a blue ocean would be more like:
✅ Giving yourself permission to be multiple things, all at once
✅ An assumption of competency. In other words: There’s no option for how you show up, as long as you’re showing up authentically, to work against you.
I won’t belabor the point here - I think we all know which of those sounds like a nicer, less stressful, yet equally successful and impactful way of existing.
Now, here’s the kicker: Just because YOU operate with a blue ocean mindset doesn’t mean everyone else will. You will be perceived however someone chooses to perceive you. If they subscribe to a notion that Hospitality Humans can’t be Helpful Humans, that’s what’s going to happen.
So really, you should just swim in whatever ocean feels better to you. I’m going to guess it’s the one where you’re not trying to be the less-malicious-but-no-less-mentally-destroying Two-Face (speaking from experience).
And that’s the truth that will set you free. You don’t have to compete with other people. You don’t have to fit in their categories. Most of all, you don’t even really need to think about what they think of you, because you can’t change it anyway!
If you’re showing up - at work, at a conference, wherever - as the competent person you are, the right humans will notice.
The Grand Thing™
The grand thing that happened today was - I showed up as I was. I’m no hero, especially since it was mainly out of tiredness - I just didn’t have any energy left to switch between the selves.
At my husband’s kind suggestion, I closed my laptop from Events Things and I went to lunch. At lunch, I ran into someone I knew and had briefly chatted with as Conference Rachel yesterday. He was coming up to ask an Event Question. I answered his Event Question, and then recommended a book I thought he’d really like in a new scientific field. That turned into an amazing conversation about our current sector, his career, my career, how much has changed, what inspires us, what we want to do next. A conversation that we would have been very unlikely to have over email, or even Zoom. It doesn’t even mean, like, new business or revenue for us. It was just the tiniest bit of ordinary magic. Not only does it feel amazing, but it changed my entire day. It has changed how I’ve seen this entire event. And I feel a lot more brave, creative, confident and positive going forward too.
So that’s it. That’s the story. The story of mindset. And that’s what we’re talking about this whole month - how to adopt a “bluer” version of this, and what that looks like in:
🌊 Creativity - especially on hard days
🌊 Bravery - especially when doing hard things
🌊 Malicious positivity (I’m writing this one and I can’t wait for you to read it)!
🌊 And, of course, our monthly Nice Work Advice Column! Send in the mindset situations you’re navigating by responding to this email, commenting, or DMing us on Instagram.
I’d love to wrap up with something amazing but I’m on deadline. Namely, dinner.
Bye!
Rachel
Helpful reading until then:
If you’re new to Nice Work, and are thinking of sending in a question, take a read through our previous advice columns! We’d love to hear from you.