Everybody knows how to run our country.
Everybody has a better plan than Obama.
300 million Americans do.
Billions of Asians and Europeans do.
We have whole industries based on knowing so much more than the rest of the world: Talk Radio. Newspapers. Sports Radio. Blogs. Fashion Shows. Reality TV.
Basically, all of us think we can do a better job than anybody else.
Unfortunately, too many people can’t even do their own job properly.
I started my career in advertising as a copywriter and nothing irked me more when non-copywriters tried to improve my copywriting.
I might not like the meal in a restaurant but I would never storm in the kitchen and tell the chef what to do.
I might not like your latest song but I won’t tell the singer how to improve the song.
For some reason, people in the marketing/advertising industry think they know everything about anything.
You see account people change copy.
Copywriters request design changes.
Data analysts criticizing the Social Media plan.
Clients suddenly become commercial directors.
When did we stop trusting anyone else to do their own job?
One of the most prolific scorers in German soccer history was Gerd Müller.
He was short.
He had no style.
You barely saw him throughout the game.
A journalist described him: “Müller was short, squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast; he never fit the conventional idea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. His short legs gave him a strangely low center of gravity, so he could turn quickly and with perfect balance in spaces and at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations.”
And scoring he did.
He scored more goals than anybody else against other European clubs.
He won the World Cup in 1974.
He focused on his one job.
Scoring.
He left the brilliance to Franz Beckenbauer.
He left the strategy to his coach.
He left the media excitement to Sepp Maier.
He just scored goals.
And he was the best at it.
Don’t waste your time focusing on what other people should do.
Focus on your own job.