Make Yourself Fungible

tl;dr - Karma is a thing.

I’m weeks, if not months, where I wanted to be with my Substack content.

Alas, I’m letting a recent Discord convo get the best of me, to share a quick nugget that hopefully will help a handful of folks out there, especially those nervous about losing their jobs, and/or those considering freelancing.

Make yourself fungible.

Make yourself replaceable.

Make yourself a cog in the wheel, that can be replaced with any other cog.

I’m dead serious.

Costly Signaling

I often think about workplace psychology, and I never write about it, because my eye twitches every time an internet guru talks about the “psychology” of this-or-that based on pure anecdote with nothing approximating scientific rigor of the actual academic discipline of psychology.

Welp, here’s a real theory with a strong scientific founding that you should understand: costly signaling.

In short, the idea is this: public displays of "sacrifice" for the greater good (especially when it conflicts with one’s personal goals) improve one's social standing in their in-group.

If I see you willingly and consistently acting in a way that benefits me more than it benefits yourself… guess what? I’m going to want to keep you around.

The theory originates from sexual selection, which makes perfect sense. Self-sacrifice is the embodiment of good parenting, and thus mate selection prioritizes such visibly demonstrated sacrifice - for the good of offspring but also for wider social acceptance and support.

But, it extends to almost all social settings, including in the workplace.

Advice for Employees

If you want your leadership to see you as indispensable, make yourself dispensable:

• Document your deliverables relentlessly (and prioritize quality and accessibility).

• Openly share all of your scripts, templates, prompts, frameworks, automations, and processes that would benefit your team.

• In short, ensure that if you were hit by a bus tomorrow, a new hire who would replace you would be immediately effective with absolute minimum friction.

Why would you do any of this, especially in an economy where layoffs are rampant and employers won’t think twice about letting you go?

Because of the psychological impact (of costly signaling).

By making yourself replaceable, your immediately/easily/intuitively demonstrating to your leadership that you’re prioritizing the goals of the company over your own personal goals, which gives you stronger social standing in your “in-group”.

They’ll see that not only can they depend on you, but that you are a force multiplier. And guess what, force multipliers get promoted, because they can then scale their value, and the value of their team and company.

(There’s more to say in a future article. Social recognition is key here, but it’s certainly possible to come across as boastful, as a braggard, as annoying… so be mindful of how you communicate. Lift others up, be generous with your time and the assets you share, have a positive impact without bragging, etc.)

This is the basic psychology behind:

• (Good) social media influencers who share highly valuable content for free (even when they have a paid tier).

• Complex POCs executed for free from SaaS vendors (who undoubtedly have qualified their prospects behind the scenes before agreeing, but that’s ok).

• Any marketing campaign that offers you real, tangible value without asking for anything in return. Free samples at Costco, anyone?

Advice for Freelancers

Freelance consultants have the burden of positioning themselves as subject matter experts. If they didn’t, their clients wouldn’t hire them.

As such - I will emphatically advise any/all consultants to share your secret sauce. All of it (or at least most of it), and publicly, especially if you’re early in your career / journey.

Give away your best tips, tricks, knowledge, and/or insight, in detail, in a way that adds tangible value to your audience.

Trust me, you’re not losing your competitive advantage - you’re building it.

By positioning yourself as generous and helpful, you’re tapping into the psychology of costly signaling, and your prospects/leads will intuitively perceive your paid offerings/time as that much more valuable.

A couple examples:

• In 2013, before I left SAP, I consistently answered questions and posted in-depth solutions and tutorials on the SAP Community Network. One gentleman I helped reached out to me directly, offered to pay me for my help (which I had to decline while employed), and later brought me into my second freelance project at a medical device manufacturer in LA. (The data architect at the client was thrilled to meet me in-person after showing me his code, i.e. implementing a solution I had just recently shared on those same forums for solving a somewhat tricky problem. Great example of realized - and unexpected - social credibility.)

• In 2015, after wrapping up an 18-month project at Deloitte, I reached out to the General Manager of a British SAP consultancy that was expanding in the US, asking if they needed any help. Given the credibility I had established with that leader over the prior two years on those same SAP forums, he didn’t even schedule an interview. He just said “yes” and ended up keeping me on full-time retainer for two full years.

So, in short, karma is a thing.

You get what you give.

So, make giving a habit.