It was either the 2nd, or 3rd feature-length film I ever worked on.
(No, you’ve never heard of it – and you won’t.)
If it was my 2nd, I’d just walked off the set of my first film where I was given a $1,000 check. It was the first money I made at a job I cared about, and I was ecstatic. My boss was so generous to me that he threw in an extra $500 on top of that, and I suddenly felt like I was swimming in money.
But I had a big, big problem.
I had to keep the money flowing.
So, when I was offered the chance to come onto another film set with that same boss at the co-helm, I immediately jumped at it. But, I knew I couldn’t just do the job.
If I just did the job, who knew when the next film would be? Would I always be so lucky to get work back-to-back? Probably not.
So I had two jobs to do that had nothing to do with my job description – be great/helpful, and make friends.
I vividly remember the first day. I sat in my car in the giant parking lot of a warehouse that was either abandoned or at least unused. Being the middle of winter, it was really cold.
I sat in the driver’s seat, psyching myself up and reminding myself that I had to be the best. There wasn’t a choice. If rumor got around of another gig coming up, I had to make sure I was on it.
I took a deep breath, opened my car door, and froze my tail off on the way into the warehouse.
The Usual Story
Most people’s plans when they get a new job – or even in their current job – is to be “the best employee they can be”.
To me, that’s incredibly vague. I imagine it means something like “be really good at my job description and do that job the best”.
So, if you’re a sound designer, that means your plan is to be really awesome at making good sounds and make the best sounds for your project. If you do that, you win – supposedly.
Except – I’ve never found that life or work operate that way.
In fact, I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not the best, or even a great sound designer or programmer. I regularly tell people I’m only passable at sound design – because it’s true!
I’ve never been employed as a full time programmer, either. Quite frankly, I probably couldn’t pass a programming interview.
I also don’t have a demo reel, my raw resume is seven pages (I deliver it at three pages), I’ve never written a cover letter that’s gotten me hired, and did I mention that I’m only passable at sound design and programming?
(I won’t lie to you though – as an “audio professional” – I know my stuff. I’ve been working in audio, in various forms, for over a decade. I’m just going to take four times as long as you to make gun sounds and mine won’t be as good as yours.)
So, why do I have a list of credits that includes a ton of major companies, bands, concerts, and a handful of the biggest AAA franchises in gaming?
My Plan
My plan when I walked into the warehouse that cold winter morning is essentially the same plan I’ve had everywhere I worked since. It has always worked out well for me when I execute on it.
First – I needed to do awesome work. I took that as a given. My job wasn’t even audio – I was a grip and dolly grip. I was essentially a flunky that moved lights around and managed everything to do with the camera dolly. I also constantly chatted up the audio team, because that’s what I wanted to be doing.
But, my actual purpose on set was to stay out of the way. So when I lit a scene – I lit it once, well, and quickly – by following the lighting director’s orders. When I handled the dolly – I set it up once, well, and quickly – and I screwed up as few shots as possible. I knew I was doing my job well when I enabled others to do their jobs better. If I was getting in the way or people were waiting on me, I was failing.
Second – I needed to make friends. Now, you’d assume I mean “network with people”, and to a point, you’d be right. But that word (networking) has such a negative association today, that it’s not really what I was doing.
In fact, what I chose to do was the crux of the whole plan. If I failed, the probability that I’d get another gig would drastically drop.
My plan was simple – I would memorize everyone’s name on the first day, and give out as many high fives as possible all day long every day.
If it sounds silly, you’re right, because it was. However, the principles behind it were so sound that I’ve built my entire career off of them.
Principles
Everyone likes to be appreciated.
Everyone likes to be known.
Most people like a helping hand.
Those three sentences were the guiding principles behind my effort to memorize everyone’s name and hand out as many high fives as possible.
At the time, it was common practice that people on the crew wouldn’t learn most people’s names until the end of a shoot – roughly four to eight weeks in. Sometimes, if you didn’t work closely enough, you’d never learn someone’s name.
So, “hey lighting” or “hey sound” or “hey makeup” turned into the stock greeting rather than “Hey Dana, could you move that light?” or “Hey Adam, how was the audio on that last take?” or “Hey Sam, Ed Asner needs a touch up real quick!”
Replace “Hey Dana” with “Hey Lighting” – say it out loud and you’ll hear how much less personable it is to refer to someone by their job title rather than their name.
But, everyone wants to be known and appreciated. Do you see how words alone completely change the dynamic of your imaginary relationship with Dana the lighting expert?
There was another funny dynamic that occurred when I walked onset the second day and knew everyone’s name –
I shocked people. Because, nobody knew my name.
But, by the end of the week – everyone did.
So, by the 2nd week, I’d hear others being referred to by their job title – but everyone was using my name.
When you think about it, that what I wanted – right? I wanted a personal connection with my fellow crew members in order to increase the odds I’d be invited to another shoot. It certainly helps if someone my knows my name.
I never shamed anyone for not knowing mine. I simply ran around giving high fives for good work and effort – mentioning the person’s name each time. So if “Adam the sound expert” did well – he’d get a high five when we broke to build a new scene or to get lunch, along with a “way to kill it Adam, great job!”
Was in my job description? Hell no.
But a decade later, I’ve rarely walked out of a company without people telling me sincerely that they’d love to have me back.
While that’s great for me – I want it for you.
Applying the Principles
Now, it’s unlikely that you’re walking into a new company or new gig right this very second. If you are you can quite literally steal the tactics above – even if you’re remote.
Just learn who everyone is as quickly as possible, and readily give out “great job!” to your coworkers. Quick little Slack/Skype/Phone messages work great.
Otherwise, if you’re well embedded, ask yourself this –
How much do you truly know your team? How much do you actually help them?
Chances are, you have quite a few “inside jokes” and know your teammates casually.
Chances are, there a few people you don’t really like.
Chances are, you’ve been thinking about your own work too much to think about how that work affects your coworkers.
There’s so much you can do to remedy these things and create deeper, more meaningful, lasting relationships that build up your team and extend beyond it.
Ask your coworkers what they like
Dumb probing questions like asking what their favorite food is, what show they like to watch, what movie they most recently saw, where they’re going on vacation, etc are gold mines.
Because when they say
“Thai food is pretty good.”
You have one follow up –
“Why?”
Really, that should be “Why Thai food?” or “What do you find special about Thai food that makes you love it?” – probing for specifics.
Contrast that with our normal response (yes, this is everyone’s normal response)
“Oh that’s cool – I really like <insert other style of food>”
Think about that. Here’s what you actually just said.
“Oh that’s cool – I wasn’t listening to you at all. I was just waiting to talk again.”
Ouch.
When you ask a simple “why” instead – what you get is incredible information. What if your coworker went to Thailand on their honeymoon? Suddenly you have a much more intriguing story to dive into! Even if they just like spicy food and they like Thai the best – you still know more about them than you did before.
Repeat yourself
The high fives worked for me for two reasons.
- I was generating positive feedback
- It was repetitious
By the end of the shoot, people were let down if I didn’t go give them a high five. No, not in every instance – but enough for me to notice. That’s crazy!
Saying “great job“ when sincere is infectious. It also gives you the opportunity to engage a conversation about that Thai food again, or ask another question (when appropriate).
Yeah, I get it – you’re an introvert who doesn’t like people. Why would you talk to people?!
Because in incredibly small doses, when you’re playing a game of asking questions and ingesting information and not making yourself the center of attention – it’s bearable.
Make it about them
Do you know why networking sucks and most of your business card deals don’t work?
Do you know why you find a job when finally stop looking for one?
You’ve been making it all about you.
When you invest in your coworkers out of mostly altruistic motivations, a really weird magical thing happens – they give you the attention you’ve been seeking.
Yep – my friend – you and me are attention whores. Nobody likes attention whores because they’re always begging for attention.
But what happens when you buy your coworker or your friend a lunch?
Your generosity opens a feedback loop – they then want to buy you lunch.
It’s the same when reversed – if someone does something nice for you, you have an unyielding desire to return the favor.
So, make it about your team. Your the purpose of your work is to lift up others – not just to “be the best” (there’s always someone better, I promise). You commit to that, and you’ll rarely be looking for work.
Epliogue
I tell people all the time that you don’t have to be the best – and I mean it. You do need to be good, and that’s enough. It’s also attainable.
I wasn’t even doing audio when I walked into that warehouse to film in the middle of winter. The conditions sucked and it wasn’t always fun – but I did my best to pick it up.
And – spoiler alert – I landed another gig.
And another after that.
And a decade later, here I am.
It wasn’t always easy. I didn’t always make enough money. It didn’t always work out perfectly. At least a handful of you are screaming “SURVIVORSHIP BIAS!” at your computer screen too.
Regardless, I’ve found these things work everywhere – and I’m positive they’ll work for you, too.
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