How It Started
In 2014, I left my job as a policy analyst and strategic planner. I'd been so excited by that job - for lots of reasons. I was the first person in my family to go to university or have a profession! I was starry-eyed about the prospect of serving the community. And I was definitely ready to do knowledge work and use my brain in interesting ways, after years of working in cleaning, hospitality and retail.
But I lasted less than 4 years. I just... didn't fit. There was a class gap, for one. As a bogan, young mum and family-less foster kid, I didn't have the right small talk to fit in. But more than that, I couldn't get my head around the pace and needless complexity of things. The insistence on tradition and bureaucracy over effectiveness and impact. Managers who watched how many hours I was in the office, not how much I produced or delivered. It drove me mad.
Sick of being a square peg in a round hole, I opted out. At 25, with two kids, a mortgage and a husband on apprentice wages, I started my own practice. I learned everything I could, drank as much coffee as possible and started putting myself out there.
Almost immediately, all the things that had been a problem in the workplace became a huge asset.
How It's Going
My desire to speak truth to power, cut through the crap and get focused on what really mattered became my commercial point of difference. My curiosity, challenge and the number of books I chewed through formed the basis of a successful writing career. My quick wit, challenging style and focus on stories, people and humanising ideas put me on stage at conferences.
Not only did I become marketable, I finally saw the difference I was making. I watched leaders and organisations get focused, drive change, build better systems and think longer-term. I saw people embrace their strategic side, think deeply and throw convention out the window.
My approach works. My thinking is followed by tens of thousands of people. And my business has been successful... and all of this is BECAUSE I have no tolerance for corporate bullsh*t, not in spite of it.
My outcast status, which was my biggest handicap in employment, has been my secret sauce. By refusing to shelve the most interesting things about me in the name of convention, I've found my own path.
What This Means For You
Odds are, to survive professionally or socially, you've dampened some of the most interesting things about you. Your unique skills, hobbies, background, experience and perspectives aren't designed to fit in a system that prioritises sameness over actual, challenging, beautiful diversity. Workplaces say they want difference, but they're not set up to handle it. They want people who look different, but behave in much the same way.
It might be what they want, but it's certainly not what they need. If we want a world where people are truly served and celebrated, we need difference in the halls of power. We need our leaders to make decisions, draft policy, design products, provide services and create content that reflect the stunning diversity that exists among all of us.
We can't do that when we're trying to conform. And we shouldn't. In the words of Rage Against the Machine: "Why stand on a silent platform? Fight the war. F**k the norm!"
The world needs you to own your outcast status and bring it to the table.
What You Can Do
I want you to think about the things you've parked, dampened, kept quiet or put to the side to get on with things. I want you to tap into the things about you that are too.. something. Too open. Too quiet. Too loud. Too empathetic. Too harsh. Too anything. I want you to find the beauty in those things.
You might not be in a place that recognises them right now, but you could be. That place exists. If it doesn't, you might have to make it yourself... which might not be such a bad thing.
Til next week,
A
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Alicia McKay
