At the top of every post I have posted on this platform is the name in bold. This is mine. It is attached to ideas, stories and anything that comes from them.
At the bottom, after the title, in small gray type next to the date, is the second name. It appears after the words “Reviewed”. Most readers may never have noticed it. And yet almost nothing you read here was published without passing through their eyes. Sometimes the editor changed something. Sometimes they are ineffective. But there they were, holding every piece to a standard the reader would never see.
This is not unique to the publication. Every product launch has engineers who never appear on stage, and every startup’s origin story has 10 or more critical people who are silently edited out of it.
But the truth is that a village is needed for this – good work always has invisible hands.
Economics has given us the most famous invisible hand – Adam Smith’s invisible force that guides markets without anyone intending to. But invisible hands are not a metaphor in your best work. They are people. They have a name. And when they did not announce, they chose you.
The story of a single author
Our culture loves the story of the lone wolf. These stories are fiction.
After decades of study creativityMihaly Tsikszntmikhaly proved that this is not just something that happens inside a person. This is a systemic phenomenonwhich results from the interaction of three things: the person who creates a new idea; the domain they are targeting; and what he called “the field”—the editors, reviewers, and peers who evaluate the idea and decide whether it deserves to be part of that domain.
Without a field, there is no recognized creativity. When we call someone a genius, the field has already done its job and gone out of the frame. The field not only determines what a great job is. The field will help us make great job
What do invisible hands actually do?
So what exactly do these people do?
Part of their job is to step in and hold those they work with on days when we can’t hold it ourselves. This is telling us the truth, but in a dose we can absorb. Part of their job involves protecting us from our worst instincts and protecting our best selves. And part of their job is to believe what we believe before there is any evidence for it, which is the only time belief really matters.
Perhaps their best work is in the form of their interventions don’t do it make The temptation to change things is too great for those who want to comment, criticize or edit. It gets real wisdomand a certain dedication, which is done by looking at a piece of work, recognizing it and not leaving any traces.
When you know where to look, you can see these invisible hands everywhere. Basketball has a famous example: Shane Battier, named by writer Michael Lewis “No All-Star stats.” However, when Battier was on the court, his teammates got better and the opposing team’s best player got worse. His contribution was real, measurable in his team’s results and invisible in his numbers.
Whose work is your hand?
If your best work has invisible hands, it’s theirs you hand? Who are you in the shadows?
Many of us struggle to name one.
The reason is not far to look for. Invisible work goes against everything our professional culture prizes. It does not produce any metrics. It does not create a personal brand. It creates value that someone else will take credit for.
The solution isn’t complicated, but it’s counter-cultural: Do the work and deny the debt. Improve your colleague’s suggestion and never mention it again; a question in a meeting that allows someone else to shine. This is an editor’s skill and it can be some of the most productive work leader always does.
Critical Creative Readings
Why? Because your personal output is just one person, however great it may be. But what you make of others will shape every decision they make. And the experience spreads. When people realize that someone has improved their work and does not ask for anything in return, they will do the same for others. A senior person who practices this craft can change the culture of an entire organization, not by any program or initiative, but by imitating a behavior that no one announces.
Actions to start this week
The experience goes in two directions: respecting the work that the invisible hands are doing and doing it yourself.
- Thank someone and make it specific. Think about the people whose fingerprints are on your best work. Pick one and thank them for being you grateful for
- Do a piece of invisible work. Improve something materially this week – a colleague’s document, a friend’s level, a small mind – and don’t tell anyone. Notice the desire to mention it? This is culture.
- Place “Reviewed” in your store. If you lead a team, make improving the performance of others a named and valued part of people’s roles. Culture is what you encourage.
Second name
Our name is at work. But we do not work alone and we are not alone. The people who make us better rarely ask for anything, which is exactly why they are worth seeing.
Here’s the whole thing, summed up in one sentence: Find the invisible hands in your life and honor them; so go and become one.
And to second names everywhere, editors and coaches, partners who give up their attention, those who make our work better than it is: thank you.
