What Disney's? Ratatouille has to do with Your Career

Let's open bold, like a proper French chef beginning your culinary experience with a daring, unexpected flavor.

You are the villain in Ratatouille.

That stuffy, grumpy, snobby food critic? Yep, that's you! You might be thinking that you share very little with that character; the mean-natured and closed minded expert who is bizarrely offended by a notion as innocent as "anyone can cook". But what happens if we change that phrase just a little.

"Anyone can do your job."

Ooh, my guess is the defensive walls are suddenly going up. "No way! I went to school for this!" or "Impossible, I have a trade and a skillset, not just anyone could do this." Well, you might be right, but you're also sounding an awful lot like that Ratatouille villain at this point. The truth is that unless you're an artist or maybe a heart surgeon, anyone probably could do your job. Or, maybe it would be a bit more accurate to say anyone could learn or be trained to do your job.

Okay, hold the toque. Is the whole point of this article to say that any common rat with a penchant for cooking could take my job? No, of course not. Your work is valuable and your contributions still have your own unique or creative spin, but bear with me and keep eating this soup until we get to the bottom of the bowl.

You might be thinking that believing "well anyone could do this work" opens the floodgates of imposter syndrome. And, in some ways, it does. Imposter syndrome often finds its roots in the insecurity of that notion, but my argument is that it doesn't have to. Society, work culture, etc. seems to push us to make ourselves invaluable and indispensable, almost like a biological defense mechanism for our job. But is that really healthy or actually true? I don't think so. I think there is a great maturity and freedom in admitting to oneself "I am proud of my work, but if I quit tomorrow, someone could learn to take my place." This is especially true for the vast majority of us who don't work for ourselves or own our own businesses. That humility will make you better at understanding your strengths and shortcomings. More importantly, it's going to make you kinder to others.

In my observation, most work-related drama stems not from inherent cruelty but from insecurity. When those defense mechanism go up, we react with gate keeping, diminishing the work of others, or words of discouragement. Too weak to wrestle with our own ego, we have to convince ourselves that we are the true masters and that the common pleb could never match our level. This is, perhaps, harsher language than our inner dialogue tends to use, but I challenge you to think of a time that you felt defensive about your work. My guess is that it may stem from this very insecurity. Not only that, but this defensiveness can lead us to create more work for ourselves. We might continue performing a task that our team could learn and help with because there is a feeling of power in being the only person who knows how to do something. It provides a sense of personal job security, but it is rarely efficient or beneficial to our work.

So, back to Pixar? town. This connection may be more thinly veiled than you realize. I mean, that villain food critic's name is literally Ego. In my mind, that is a clear message that the true antagonist to the rising star is internal, namely their struggle with arrogance and humility. Ego tells us in eloquent prose that it is stressful and vulnerable to embrace or defend new talent, to be welcoming of the new in an established order. And yet, in doing so he finds joy and is free from the insecurities and stresses that previously made him scoff at new people and experiences.

Unlike Ego, I suspect that you actually won't be risking your job by welcoming new talent. Like Ego, however, I believe that doing so will lower your stress and make you a more genial colleague or potential mentor. I will leave you with this: everyone has different areas of talent, strength, and potential, so know when I say "anyone could do your job" it doesn't mean that just anyone off the street could start doing your work tomorrow. Perhaps Ego says it best near the end of the film in stating, "Not everyone can be a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere."

While not the most popular in their lineup, Ratatouille has long been my favorite Pixar film, and I'm happy to say that this lesson has been meaningful to me personally. As I struggled through imposter syndrome, it was freeing to simply admit the reality that anyone with a bit of maturity, professionalism, and onboarding could probably do my job, assuming they were interested in it. My job as a coach is all about lifting others up, and I can't do that if I'm focused on pulling the ladder up behind me.?

Conclusion: Welcoming new talent is good. Letting go of your career defensiveness may improve your work and your mental health.