Snakes in the Workplace

I thought it was one of those “freeze pop” wrappers, carelessly thrown on the ground by an inconsiderate park goer.

Instead, it was a valuable lesson in what holds us back, and how to break free in our careers and personal life so we can experience the growth we deserve.

Take The Stairs

Much like the look you may get when you suggest taking the stairs when there’s a perfectly good elevator or escalator, I feel the same way about walking.

There are bikes, cars, and — as a measure of last resort — busses.

But this summer, my wife convinced me to accompany her on a walk through FDR park.

FDR park is currently being renovated, and yet it’s still busier than most parks in Philadelphia on any given day of the week.

And while most visitors follow the “leave no trace” philosophy of wandering out into nature, some can’t resist using the world as their trash can.

So, whenever reasonably possible, we try to pick up litter and keep the park clean(er) for everyone. And about halfway through our walk I saw what I thought was litter.

But as I got closer, I realized it wasn’t plastic trash but rather the skin of a snake; and as it was still fairly translucent I figure it must've been recently shed.

The Basics

The process of shedding skin is natural and harmless to the snake, as many of you know. But what about it is a correlate to business or personal growth for us?

What ‘skin’ are you holding onto, that’s preventing you from growing?

For some, it’s their title.

For some, it’s their paycheck.

For some, it’s their anxiety or depression.

For some, it’s an unhealthy or unhelpful relationship.

No matter what “it” is, there’s a very human reluctance to shed what we have for the promise of what we could become.

That reluctance may be the inspiration for sayings like: “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” and “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t” etc.

Basically, the status-quo feels…safer.

But is that a myth?

In psychology, there is a concept called Approach Avoidance, and at its essence is the concept that while we approach things we want, and avoid things we don’t want; the reality is that most things in life have a little bit of both - so what do we do then?

Fascinatingly, many of our “wants” are simply pursued in service of avoiding what we “don’t want” — and this is where things get, complicated.

The Conflict

Our desire to maintain status quo is in direct conflict with our physiological and psychological need for growth.

In order for us to become who we can be, we need to be willing to discard the vestiges of who we are — much like a snake abandons its skin.

Part of the dysfunction of business is the belief that some are “too big to fail” — that’s like saying some snakes are too big to shed their skin.

Organizations, Social Conventions, and even Beliefs must die so that new ones may form.

And the energy we spend resisting growth often leaves us ill-prepared to adopt and embrace the change required to experience and capitalize on growth itself.

Simply put, resistance is not just futile; it’s exhausting.

The Lesson

There are plenty of books that do a great job of spelling this out in 300+ pages. Marshall Goldsmiths’ “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” is probably the best known.

But the quick takeaway is that much like a snake sheds its skin, there’s likely something you need to shed to get the growth you deserve and desire.

Make peace with the fact that growth isn’t always pretty or comfortable.

Growth often means letting go of a part of who we are, to grow into who we are capable of being.

For me, like for many, it wasn’t til a critical diagnosis — seeing my whole life and its potential literally shift course — gave me the courage to make the changes I’d been resisting.

But in that process, I got curious about what I could’ve done to make those changes without so much drama, pain, and procrastination.

And from that I developed the 7 Keys of Success. Seven disciplines that — if studied and practiced — can help you grow your business and improve your performance.

Through using these, you can shed your metaphorical skin and grow.

Here’s?a great place to get started.

A version of this was originally published on November 8th, 2021 at https://blog.gregoryoffner.com/?p=b06074cb1e3