Benefitting From Someone Else’s Misfortune Or Work
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 10, 2011
Last week I was reading a blog post from someone I admire a lot locally. His name is David Goldsmith, and he wrote a post on his blog called Bad Times are Always Good Times – for Someone. In his post, he showed how some bad things that have happened have ended up being a good thing for someone else who was ready to take advantage of the opportunity.
I thought it was a great take on how things really do happen in this world. Every time someone gets fired from a job it gives someone else an opportunity they'd have never previously had. Every time someone passes away, someone else is going to get a monetary benefit from it. That's just life, and how things work.
But it doesn't always need to be something bad. For instance, I'm getting to write a blog post because of David's blog post. Someone else might read mine and write their own blog post. Every day someone reads an article that someone else wrote and applies the principles to whatever it is they needed in the first place. It's all cyclical, and there's nothing wrong with any of it.
The main point David was making, which is the same point I'm aiming at here, is that opportunities arise, but we always have to be ready to step in and avail ourselves of these opportunities. Sure, some of them may sound a bit morbid, but think about it. There's not just one funeral home; there are many. Each, in its own way, competes for business by either offering lower prices or better services. I'm not going to say they're happy when people pass away, but they each try to place themselves into the best position possible when it's time for someone to go looking for services that they provide.
It's for this reason that I always tell people to not only give their all, but to try, in some fashion, to make sure they're in the right position when an opportunity arises. That might mean doing a regular self evaluation of some sort to be ready to present it to someone. It might mean being proactive and asking the person you report to for quarterly evaluations so you can not only improve areas you might be lacking in, but show initiative to keep your name in their minds in case something new does come up.
How are you working towards being the name people think about when opportunities arise?
Your post made me think about in the corporate world, the real corporate world, you know, Wall Street-like and all, well in that sort of environment the demise of an individual can truly mean the chance of a lifetime for someone else. Such a competitive world can get to your head, I admit I don’t have direct experience of that but every time I think about it I am glad I am where I am.
Gabriele, that’s pretty much how the world works. For instance, whenever there’s a problem with one brand of something another brand suddenly pops up and has a great run. It makes sense to always be positioned for success in the long run.
Let us not forget funeral directors and ambulance chasers. 🙂
On the positive tip, I see great ideas that would be fun posts. Where do they come from? Reading blogs, checking out articles that others have tweeted – and my wife.
Man, she can go on a rant that would make a troll blush! I usually just say, “Yes, dear.” But my mind is thinking, “What a great idea for a post!”
Cheers,
Mitch
P.S. You provide inspiration as well. Keep an eye out – you’ll recognize it when you see it 🙂
Mitch, I figure ideas are always available, as well as opportunity based on bad luck for others. I don’t think it’s good policy to wish bad luck on anyone else, but knowing that eventually you might have the opportunity to do something helps keep you sharp and doing the best you can so that if it comes along you’re positioned properly to take your shot at it.
Great post. Like what you’ve pointed out, benefiting from one’s misfortune or work can be both a good thing and a bad thing depending on the situation. If for example your co-worker told you a great idea for the company. Then you told your boss about it, claiming that it was your idea, then that’s really bad. But when someone gets fired and your boss saw a potential in you, then that’s good. You just have to be sure that you are not hurting or stepping over anyone on your way to success. It’s more fulfilling when you work hard for it.
Thanks for your comment, Maria, and you’re absolutely correct, it is much more fulfilling when you work hard for it. But we also always have to be ready for those opportunities that come our way legitimately, even if something bad happened to allow it to come, as long as we weren’t responsible for the bad that occurred.