It’s just a snapshot of three guys, all named Neil (or Neal).
The guy on the left is Neal Stephenson, one of my absolutely favorite authors (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle, Seveneves, Reamde, and a lot more.) To call him a polymath is an understatement.
The guy on the right is Neil Gaiman, the world-renowned writer of books, television, films, comics, and more. To say that he’s re-imagined/re-invented the genres of science fiction, fantasy, mythology, and comics is no hyperbole. The dude is global.
But that guy in the middle is truly extraterrestrial. That’s Neil Armstrong, the first human being to set foot on something other than the Earth.
But this post isn’t about them, per se. It’s about the event where this photo was taken—and the conversation that happened between the two Neils.
“duckswearhats asked: Hi, I read that you’ve dealt with with impostor syndrome in the past, and I’m really struggling with that right now. I’m in a good place and my friends are going through a lot, and I’m struggling to justify my success to myself when such amazing people are unhappy. I was wondering if you have any tips to feel less like this and maybe be kinder to myself, but without hurting anyone around me. It’s a big ask, I know, but any help would make my life a lot less stressful
The best help I can offer is to point you to Amy Cuddy’s book, Presence. She talks about Imposter Syndrome (and interviews me in it) and offers helpful insight.
The second best help might be in the form of an anecdote. Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.
On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name*. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”
And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”
And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for”. – Neil Gaiman, neilgaiman.com
If you feel you’re an imposter, you’re in very good company.
Over the years, I’ve noticed something in myself and others, and hereby offer up this universal truth:
If you don’t think you’re a hack, you are one.
To admit you may not know everything is a tremendous strength, not a weakness. It keeps you striving. It keeps you humble. It keeps you honest. But it should not keep you from sharing.
You don’t have to be a narcissist to have a personal brand. You don’t have to be a know-it-all to be a thought leader in your field of expertise. But you do have to be completely honest, about who you are, what you do, and what you know. And that’s what I mean about creating a ‘completely true / completely you’ NonFiction Brand.
Know who you are. So you can be it. And never, ever think that what you have to say isn’t worth sharing.
It’s Monday, post-game ‘Big Game’ 2018. Every social media channel is packed with opinions about who won marketing’s version of the game. And frankly, I don’t care. One person’s hilarious is another’s blah blah. But there was something that grabbed my attention about one of the commercials shown during the game—and it wasn’t the commercial shown during the game. It was the massive strategy behind it.
This is what Ad Folks mean when they say ‘Big Idea.’
We live in Möebius strip world in which up is media, down is media, and media is meta-media. Confused? Check out Exhibit A from Droga5/New York for Aussie tourism in the story above, or watch the spot below:
The money quote from Chris Hemsworth:
“I kept asking the director, ‘Hang on. So I know it’s a movie, but it’s not a movie but a commercial. And I’m playing a—wait … at which point am I playing a character or playing me?….And in the end, [the director] was like, ‘We don’t really know, either. Just have fun with it.’”
I love that. The idea’s so big that even the director Steve Rogers was flying by the seat of his/her huge budget production pants. An idea that big doesn’t have to make logical sense. It just has to work. I’m guessing it did—big time. And that fact that it ripped on some American’s parochial understanding of all things Antipodes? Even better.
Hat’s off the the Droga5 team, but a bigger hat’s off the the Tourism Australia client that greenlit this illogical extravaganza. They made their point in quintessentially Australian fashion; with a heaping helping of good humor. Good on ya, mate!
PS: the Paul Hogan cameo was expected, but really well done/timed. A real treat for those of us who saw it first run in theaters way back when (1986…1986! WTF!!!!)
D.P. Knudten, the Chief Collaborator at COLLABORATOR creative, is a ~25-year veteran in advertising and marketing. Providing everything from freelance copywriting; content marketing strategy, creation, execution; and his NonFiction Branding™ system, D.P. collaborates creatively to identify, craft, and communicate the true brand stories of complicated products, services, and companies throughout the United States.
D.P. is also the co-author (with Spencer X Smith)of ROTOMA—The ROI of Social Media ‘Top of Mind’. Be sure to check out its aural companion “The ROTOMA Podcast.” We have new episodes coming out every Monday. Check it out at here or search “ROTOMA” wherever you get your podcasts.
I originally posted this in 2013, but given the amount of bad bro behavior going on, I think it’s worth an update and a repost. -dp
I ran into an HR situation today that was quickly resolved with three simple words:
1. Dude
2. Not
3. Cool
When used in combination, they form a phrase of surpassing power, an incantation capable of transmogrifying a raging jackass into a repentant basset hound.
“Dude, not cool” (DNC) is a defacto code that’s pretty much guyiversal. And it’s applicable everywhere and anywhere a male (of any age) has crossed over into Jerkistan.
Now it doesn’t work on every man or boy. There’s always a troll subset that delights in pushing buttons and making people uncomfortable, head-shakingly annoyed or downright angry. Such individuals are hopeless and can be simply described by an equally powerful term: D-Bag.
But DNC works wonderfully on those who really DON’T want to hurt feelings, and have no bad intentions but occasionally display a deficit of the appropriate sensibility for any given occasion (e.g, me.)
If it takes a village to raise a child,
it takes a neigh BRAH! hood to calibrate a man.
The guy who uses “it was acceptable then” phraseology that’s become unacceptable now; the dude who excessively ogles the server at dinner; the husband who jokingly belittles his wife in public: these are all recalibrate-able men. But the only ones who can truly make this adjustment happen are male peers using “Dude, not cool” or one of it’s many variants (e.g., “Don’t be a fill in the blank.”)
Boorish, obnoxious, and blatantly antisocial male behavior happens when respected peers say nothing. ‘Locker Room Talk’ only happens when others in the locker room tolerate it. And you don’t have to go all Puritan to make your point. All it takes is a simple “Dude, not cool.” and you’ve saved a decent guy from embarrassing himself, and given him valuable calibration on what’s acceptable—and what you won’t put up with.
Is there a female equivalent of this highly effective rejoinder? Yes. It’s not verbal, but doesn’t have to be (it’s that formidable.) It’s called “The Look,” a facial communication of visceral distaste that is the human equivalent of using a magnifying glass on ants.
But even these lasers of personality course correction never work on those who depend on “Wha’d I say?” to smooth over their purposeful missteps. That type of behavior requires an opposite-gender boycott—for life.
