There are plenty of video companies. Atlanta didn’t need another video company. From the beginning my hope has been not to make Friendly Human a video company, but rather a people company. This is why we aren’t afraid to listen to people’s fears about getting on camera, why we cook a farm-to-table lunch at our office every week, and why we empathize with B2B marketers to solve their toughest problems.
There are people in your company who have ideas too important not to share. They’re just waiting on you for permission to speak up.
There’s a Tibetan word I really like, “shenpa.” It loosely translates as “attachment” or getting hooked by something, and Pema Chodron likes to noodle on it.
Shenpa is those times when someone (either real or imagined) criticizes you in a way that makes you want to freeze up. Something just tightens inside of you and you’d rather do anything, even go get a haircut, than ship on the project. We all have things that strike to our core and make us “nope” in the face of fear. The real danger is that if we follow them, they force us to start equating our project outcome to our value as a human.
I believe the true goal is to see the hook, the shenpa, know it’s danger, and bite it with every intention of pulling the fisherman into the water. Lean into the sore spot, and be stronger for it.
What is your shenpa? Why are you reading this instead of doing what needs to be done?
