The Freak Factory - David Rendall

Freak of the Week: Allan Bacon

No, it's not Allyn Bacon, the publisher of  education and social science books.

This is Allan Bacon, author of the Avocationist blog, which is listed as an Alltop Career site. He wants to help you find your passion without leaving your day job. I met him at Pam Slim's Escape from Cubicle Nation event last summer in Charlotte.

In the post below, Allan shares his weaknesses and how he has used these apparent flaws to build a fulfilling life, career and business.

"My first weakness is that I'm too social. When I was on a YMCA soccer team as a child I got the 'Ma Bell Gossip Award' because all I wanted to do was talk to everyone.

My second weakness is that I cannot make myself do something that I think is boring - so instead of just raking the leaves, I spent an afternoon trying to figure out a way to rig up a giant tarp to load up all the leaves on. It didn't work and it took three times as long as just raking the leaves.

My third weakness is that as soon as I figure something out, I get bored - the tarp idea didn't lead to some break-through solution to the leaves, it just made it more painful to get the yard cleaned up - I still had to rake them. Now I just hire someone to do my yard. Ricky loves what he does and my yard looks way better than it ever did when I did it.

When it came time for me to have a career my inability to do boring stuff and my tendency to get bored quickly became real issues for me. The problem was that I got bored every 1-2 years as I figured out each new job. And I lived in a place where there weren't a lot of jobs for a person with a PhD in Physics.

So I got really good at changing careers. I turned my weakness of wanting to figure everything out into the skill of understanding how to change. I used the fact that I am 'too social' as a strength by meeting lots of new people.

After several of these changes I realized that the traditional career approach wouldn’t help me find something that really tapped into all of my passions. Since I had trouble making myself do stuff I didn’t understand, I had to come up with a new way to try out lots of things in a safe way. This led to developing the idea of Life Experiments where I figured out how to do anything I wanted to (new careers, new hobbies, new jobs) without having to take a lot of time or spend a lot of money. One of these was a blog I started as an excuse to meet more people (my outlet for being 'too social').
 
Instead of forcing myself to conform to a normal career path, I started trying lots of other ways to figure out what I love. Even though this was harder, it was the only way I could move forward (since I couldn’t force myself to keep doing things I was bored with).
 
Now I get paid to figure things out, meet people and explain to them how things work. I publish the Avocationist blog, speak, write and coach people on how to live their dream lives without having to put their incomes at risk. 
 
I also consult with entrepreneurs to figure out how they can get more business without having to invest a lot more money. Because it’s my company I get to do lots of different things and add new things whenever I need to move on to something else."

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Do you want to be the Freak of the Week? Spots are filling up fast for 2010. Send an email to dave (at) drendall (dot) com. Tell me how your weaknesses are actually strengths in disguise and explain how you've capitalized on your flaws to succeed in your business or career. You can also nominate someone that you know.

I'm also starting a new Freak Factory feature. Do you work for a company or boss that allows you to flaunt you weaknesses instead of trying to fix them? If so, send me your story. I'd love to hear from you.

More than half of Americans work for failure factories

According to a CNN Money report, job satisfaction in the United States just hit a 22-year low. More than half of American employees are frustrated by their work.

"The Conference Board's survey polled 5,000 households, and found that only 45% were satisfied in their jobs. That's down from 61.1% in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. Even though one in 10 Americans is out of a job, those who are employed are increasingly dissatisfied.

'Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend,' said Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board.

'[That] could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity,' she added."

The recent recession, layoffs, pay cuts and outsourcing promise to make this problem even worse in 2010. In this environment, managers and workers need to discover a new approach to performance improvement.

If we want people to get re-engaged, we need to stop trying to find and fix their flaws. This approach didn't work in the past and it won't work in these troubled times.

Instead of perpetuating failure factories with ineffective conventional strategies, we need to create freak factories, organizations that help people to amplify their unique qualities and contribute the best of themselves each day. We need to stop forcing people to fit in and start helping them freak out.

Find out more about how to improve employee engagement, motivation and productivity in my free e-book The Freak Factory: Making Employees Better by Helping Them Get Worse.

Freak of the Week: Joe Heuer, Rock & Roll Guru

Joe Heuer is the Rock & Roll Guru. As he explains on his Twitter profile, he is an author, speaker, humorist, rocker & nonconformist. Rock & Roll (especially classic rock) is his muse, passion & business.

His alter ego is Daffynitions, where he offers his own quirky definitions of everday words. As a college professor, one of my recent favorites is "Term Paper: an expanded version of the Wikipedia entry."

I asked Joe to share his freak factor and his response is below. If anyone has ever told you that you have to grow up in order to be successful, don't listen to them. Joe's story proves that you can grow older (and wealthier and happier) without growing up.

"My flaws are many, but I'll just share a few highlights. First, I'm psychologically unemployable. Among other things, that means I can't take orders, I come and go as I please and I only do stuff I consider fun. In other words, I do what I want when I want.

My mantra, as well as my business plan, is 'If you always do fun stuff, there will always be plenty of fun stuff to do.' This works incredibly well for me, as I'm allergic to doing stuff that's not fun. Consequently, I have the grooviest career, biz & life I can imagine as the Rock and Roll Guru.

Another significant 'flaw' is my attention span, or lack thereof. The strength here is that I'm working on so much cool stuff that I never get bored. There's always another fun project to which I can turn my attention, however briefly. For example, I'm working on a series of themed Daffynitions books, including Biz, Parenting, Relationships & Self-help. Additionally, I'm writing the Rock & Roll Dictionary, which is based on the Daffynitions model.

I also wrote The Dentist's Rockin' Guide to Patient Loyalty. A flaw related to the dentist's book is that I'm sorta lazy. By putting 'dentist' on the cover, I become the industry 'expert' and I'll send it to the 50 state dental associations to line up a handful of speaking gigs.

Since my maximum attention span is 90 minutes, I can harness my energy to deliver one of my two keynote addresses for that length of time."

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Do you want to be the Freak of the Week? Spots are filling up fast for 2010. Send an email to dave (at) drendall (dot) com. Tell me how your weaknesses are actually strengths in disguise and explain how you've capitalized on your flaws to succeed in your business or career. You can also nominate someone that you know.

I'm also starting a new Freak Factory feature. Do you work for a company or boss that allows you to flaunt you weaknesses instead of trying to fix them? If so, send me your story. I'd love to hear from you.

Freak of the Week: Erika Lyremark

Erika Lyremark is a Professional Ass Kicker, Speaker, Radio Host, Author, and Founder of DailyWhip.com. She has made an art and a science out of ass-kicking, delivering her years of experience and love of pain straight into your tender ears with all the subtlety and tact of a pit-bull in stilettos.

Having spent nine years as an exotic dancer, Erika had finally had enough and kicked her own ass into co-creating a multimillion-dollar commercial real estate investment firm.  With her passion and drive restored, she then realized that she had a deep desire to light a fire under the countless other souls out there toiling in a life not their own.

I recently met Erika via Twitter, @DailyWhip, and was intrigued by her unconventional approach to coaching. She asked me to be a guest on her radio show and you can listen to the interview here.

I asked her if she had a freak factor story and her response is below. I've written before about the benefits of being bossy and Erika's story offers even more proof that flaunting your flaws is more effective than fixing them.

"When I was a young girl I got into trouble for being bossy. 'Erika, stop bossing your friends around. Erika stop bossing your brother and sister around. Erika stop bossing ME around,' my mother would belt out in her thick Swedish accent.

Personally I never saw my bossiness as a problem. It got me a lot of things when I was younger. When my friends came over I got them to do my chores for me. I got the best Barbie doll at playtime. I got the best seat on the school bus. I got to be first in line.

Even though being bossy has gotten me into a lot of trouble and has been the cause of many fights with my friends and family, embracing my bossiness has been a huge advantage in my career. What was just a personality defect is now how I make my living.

Making change in one’s life can be a grueling ugly process that requires hardcore accountability. It’s human nature that when we’re confronted with facing the ugly truth about ourselves and our lives, we want to run as fast as we can back to our comfort zone. This is why my skill of artfully pushing, prodding, and 'whipping' my clients into action is key. Bossing my clients all the way to career success and life fulfillment has not only given me the nickname 'Bossy Boots,' but embracing the FREAK in me has also made me tons of cash along the way!"

The reason to be unreasonable

Seth Godin recently wrote about the danger of doing things within reason.

"Within reason means, 'without bothering the boss, without taking a big risk, without taking the blame if we fail . . . be reasonable!' And so you do it half-heartedly and you fail. And who beats you? The people who did it without reason."

Most people would agree with most of the ideas on this blog, as long as you don't take them too far. It is fine to build on your strengths . . . within reason. It is good to embrace your weaknesses . . . within reason. Go ahead and pursue your passion . . . within reason. Be yourself . . . within reason.

But that is the problem. My point is that you need to go even farther. You need to go farther in the direction that everyone is telling you not to go in.

The freak factor is about being unreasonable, about doing things "without reason." If you can avoid the trap of doing things "within reason," then you dramatically increase your chances for success.

Next time someone encourages you to be reasonable, just realize that they are really asking you to be normal, average, mediocre and unremarkable. In other words, they are being unreasonable.

* If you want to create career success without reason, you can read my free eBook, The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness.

* If you want to find out how to motivate employees without reason, you can check out my free eBook, The Freak Factory: Making Employeees Better by Helping Them Get Worse.

5 ways to make your job better, even if it will never be perfect

I got some great responses to my post, Are You in the Right Spot? 7 Ways to Find the Right Fit. In particular, Elad Sherf's comment was worth expanding on.

He said, "it is important to ask yourself how many hours per day you do things that you like and that you are good at? Most people don't enjoy 100% of their work. The question is, what is the figure for you?"

He's right. Most people don't enjoy everything about their jobs or even their businesses, if they are  entrepreneurs. Instead of trying to find the perfect job, we should strive to increase the number of hours per day that we can apply our strengths and decrease the number of hours each day that we spend in our areas of weakness.

Here are five suggestions to get you started:

1. Review your workday and approximate the percentage of time that you spend in your areas of strength & weakness. Is it 20% strength and 80% weakness? Is it 50% strength and 50% weakness? A student once told me that her job required her to spend just 10% of her time in areas of strength and 90% in areas of weakness.

2. List the specific activities that allow you to do what you do best and those that put a spotlight on your flaws.

• What tasks do you love to do?
• When do you lose track of time?
• What type of work are you consistently recognized and praised for?
• What tasks do you hate to do?
• When does time seem to stand still?
• What type of work do you consistently struggle with?

3. Schedule more activities that draw on your strengths.

• Do you have the authority to make these decisions?
• Do you need to involve your supervisor?
• Do you need the cooperation of your co-workers?

4. Eliminate tasks that draw on your flaws.

• Is the task essential?
• Can you get help from someone?
• Can you exchange tasks with a co-worker that has complementary strengths?

5. Set a target. If your current state is 20% strength and 80% weakness, then maybe 50/50 is a worthwhile goal. Even a small change in this percentage will pay large dividends in energy, motivation and results. This, in turn, will help you to make it through the parts of your job that are less desirable.

If you want to learn more about how to find the right fit, you can listen to my interviews with Pam Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, and Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade.

Are you in the wrong spot? 7 ways to find the right fit

One of the primary arguments of the freak factor is that our apparent weaknesses are actually strengths. But this is only true if we put ourselves in the right situations.

The most common question that I get after my freak factor seminar is, "do I have to quit my job to find my freak factor?" In other words, people want to flaunt their weaknesses, but they are afraid of how it will affect their career and personal finances.

Below are seven options for finding or creating a better fit between your unique characteristics and your work. They are listed in order of difficulty and the degree to which they will disrupt your life. The easiest options are first and the harder ones follow.

The freak factor isn't an all or nothing proposition. Take a look at the strategies below and start with the one that you are most comfortable with. The point is to start somewhere and start now!

1. Keep your job and pursue your passion through hobbies, volunteering or family involvement. If you can find positive outlets for your unique qualities, your work will seem more bearable. This is the route that Allan Bacon suggests. His Avocationist blog offers tips for pursuing your passion without quitting your job.

2. Keep your job and try to adapt your current work responsibilities to focus more on the activities that you enjoy and do well and less on those you dislike and do poorly. This requires a good relationship with your supervisor. If you have this conversation,  you need to focus on the benefit that the department and company will experience if you are allowed to adjust your role. Marcus Buckingham has a lot of wonderful examples of how this has been done effectively in Go Put Your Strengths to Work.

3. Keep your job and begin to develop a part-time business during your evenings and weekends. You can make a lot of progress on an entrepreneurial venture without ever quitting your job. It can also be helpful and wise to explore the viability of your business concept before giving up your full-time income. Your day job will be much more bearable if you have the hope of someday leaving to pursue your business full-time. Pam Slim's book, Escape from Cubicle Nation, is a helpful guide.

4. Stay at your company but request a transfer to a new job that matches your skills and interests. For example, maybe you're working in accounting but feel that your creativity is being stifled by all the rules and regulations and your innovative ideas are seen as dangerous and unwise. A transfer to the marketing department or to a new program development position might change people's perceptions of the value that you bring to the company and give you a greater sense of fulfillment.

5. If you can't find the right fit at your current employer, quit and find a new full-time job. Identify the kinds of activities that put the spotlight on your strengths and make your weaknesses invisible or irrelevant. Look for jobs that include those activities and start applying. Obviously, this isn't easy but the results will make the process worthwhile. Dan Schawbel's personal branding book and blog have some very useful advice and resources on how you can move your career in a new direction.

6. Quit your full-time job, get a part-time job and start a new business. Some people aren't cut out to be employees. If your freak factor requires you to do your own thing but you are somewhat risk-averse, this strategy can give you a greater sense of security and a modest source of income while you get your business off the ground. You can also get a new full-time job that is more flexible or has less responsibility and will allow you more time and/or energy to focus on your new business. My job as a college professor gives me a tremendous amount of freedom to pursue my business as a speaker, trainer and author.

7. Quit your job and start a business. If your weaknesses include impulsiveness, over-confidence or idealism, then this is the option for you. If you have no fear and you just want to make the leap right now, then go for it. I strongly believe that the best way to find the right fit is to create it. No employer will ever care as much about your future than you will and they won't ever be able to creatively adapt to your unique characteristics as well as you can. Jonathan Fields' book, Career Renegade, has some very practical and exciting examples of how people have turned their passion into a viable business. For example, one husband and father turned his love of video games into a thriving publishing business. 

The point is that you don't have to quit your job, at least not right now. There are a lot of things that you can do today to start embracing your freak factor.

Did I miss a step? If you can think of any options that I left out, please let me know and I'll add them to the list.

Should you request a demotion?

A local television station in Baltimore hired a young African-American woman to co-anchor the evening news. Unfortunately, she was too emotional and not detached enough to be a big city news anchor.

When she flubbed a line, she'd laugh. When a story was sad, she'd cry. And there were several things about her appearance the station didn't like. So the station decided to reassign (demote) her to an early morning talk show.

And that morning show was the perfect fit for Oprah's personality.

We don't need to fix our supposed weaknesses, we just need to find the right spot.

Next time you encounter criticism, ask yourself this question. Is this really a weakness or am I just in the wrong spot?

* Credit for this story goes to Tom Morris, philosopher, speaker and author of Twisdom: A Philosopher Ponders Life in 140 Characters or Less 

You can take advantage of a rare opportunity to meet Tom and hear him speak at his upcoming Wisdom Retreats in Wilmington, NC.

Don't listen to them! There's nothing wrong with you.

As I've explained many times before, I got in trouble a lot in school for talking too much, being hyperactive, making jokes and failing to do what I was told to do.

In 8th grade, I was in a very small art class. There were only four or five students. Most of our class time was spent drawing or painting, while the teacher sat at her desk. There wasn't a lot of lecture in art class.

I took it upon myself to fill the silence. I offered a running commentary about my artwork, told funny stories and made jokes. Unfortunately, the teacher did not think I was funny. She did not like me at all. I may, in fact, have been the most irritating person she had ever met.

At one point, she petitioned the principal to have me spanked. My parents had to approve the request as well and they were glad to do so. But the beating didn't work and our problems continued.

One day she sent me out of class and told me to stand in the hallway for the rest of the period. As I walked out she said, "I think we are all tired of listening to you."

The rest of the students in the class quickly talked amongst themselves and decided that they weren't tired of listening to me. I was very entertaining. They loved it. The prospect of an entire class period without me was not appealing.

They told the teacher that they liked my ramblings and asked her to reconsider her decision to expel me from the classroom.

As you can probably guess, this caused the teacher to like me even less that she already did.

But there's an important lesson here. The same thing that causes some people to like you, will cause other people to dislike you. The same thing that makes some people happy, will make other people unhappy.

This is why we need to flaunt our weaknesses instead of fixing them. When we try to fix our supposed weaknesses, we might make some people happy but, in doing so, we will also jeopardize our relationship with the people who already liked us just the way we were.

The next time someone tells you that everyone is "tired of listening to you," ask yourself if that is true. Maybe a lot of people love listening to you. Maybe you should talk more instead of less.

Defy the Box: Break Free of the Pre-Packaged Life

Are you letting your freak flag fly? Or is your flag folded up in a box in the basement?

Is your life full of juicy goodness? Or is it mostly dry and crusty?

Being a freak is about finding the right fit between your unique characteristics and the situation you put yourself in. I usually talk about finding or creating the right work situation but there is another aspect of finding the right fit that is very important.

We have to find the right people, our people, people that just get us and accept our flaws. Better yet, people that don't even see our supposed flaws. People that see the strengths that correspond with each of our flaws.

Leah Shapiro is one of those people. She is a coach that helps people to find and flaunt their inner freak. She is different and proud of it. She wants to help you create financial success and personal fulfillment by breaking free of the average 'pre-packaged life.'

When we met, I didn't have to explain the freak factor. She understood it immediately. I didn't have to water it down. She was probably ready to take the concept farther than I ever had.

That is how you know when you've found your people. It's easy. It's natural. It's a perfect fit. 

Leah and I will be talking about the freak factor tonight on Defy the Box Radio. If you have any questions about discovering or applying your distinctive characteristics, give us a call. You can also listen live, Tuesday, November 10 at 9pm EST or get the recording if you can't join us. Click here for the details.

If you want to learn more about Leah and Defy the Box, you can connect with her on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.