#024: Plus, Minus and Equals of Growth and Connection

So, this is an episode I’ve been wanting to share for such a long time. Like seriously probably a solid year when I heard about this concept for interpersonal connections and growth that clicked in such a profound way for me when I was able to tie it back to places in time of my own creative journey.

Alright, so what is this Plus, Minus, Equals concept and why does it matter? 

Put simply, a key way to ensure you’re growing in your career (or really ANY area of your life you could apply this principle to) is deliberately creating connections with people way ABOVE your level, way BELOW your level, and RIGHT AROUND your level of (insert skill or proficiency here). You might hear all that and think, “Well, duh? Of course you want to have a variety of folks in your circle”. Well, obviously yes, but think RIGHT NOW to your closest connections in a particular space (say your department, one of your hobbies/passions outside the office, or even just close friends). And tell me honestly how many of those circles truly contain a variety of skill levels? Chances are pretty slim that’s a damn near homogenous group. 

If you’re one of the many photographers listening to this episode, for example,  do you really have any newbies or photo students in your close contacts? Or vice versa, how many world-class, awarded photographers could you honestly say is a connection you could call upon? If you have trouble answering either of those questions, trust me, you are so far from the only one. As we settle into our careers (creative disciplines, media or otherwise) we aggressively run the risk of our networks and connections becoming calcified into “people like me” who “think and do things like I think and do” (The brilliant marketing mind Seth Godin has a word for that – CULTURE)

Okay, I say that a bit tongue in cheek, but it’s true. The farther along in our career and and personal lives we get, we fall into ruts of what we do and who we spend time with the most (not all in a bad way, but far more often and even a little insidiously, in a mindless, unintentional way).

So, let’s break down the three elements of the Plus, Minus, Equal philosophy of connections and how it can make such a difference in your own growth and development.

PLUS:

While the word gets bandied about way too damn much for anyone’s liking and has nearly lost the gravity and importance that it used to have, PLUS in this model of connection and growth is really referring to the concept of Mentorship – or at the very least, learning from individuals in your field who have objectively created and achieved more than where you’re currently at (no shade here, it’s just a fact that you’re always going to be outpaced and outachieved by plenty of people. Just the same way you’ll outpace and out achieve plenty of folks in turn, but more on that later).

In my mind, the key benefit of connecting and communicating with folks above your weightclass as it were in your field or in the particular skill you’re looking to grow in is this: hard learned lessons minus the struggle. As the old saying goes : “Only a fool learns from their own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others”.

Now there’s nothing quite like the teacher that is failure/struggle/pain/etc., but connection with an advanced figure in your field is a damn close second. And more often than not, can help you illuminate the “unknown unknowns” and pitfalls one couldn’t possibly see coming. The trite analogy would be the idea of summiting Mount Everest. Instead of learning lessons yourself (cough, frostbite, cough), wouldn’t you rather start on a solid foundation of learning from those who had come before in place of reinventing the wheel so to speak. 

Realistically however, each of these kinds of connection do come with a handful of pitfalls and the PLUS category of individuals can be one of