1- Who’s on First

If you haven’t seen the iconic “Who’s on First” Abbot and Costello routine, stop reading, find it on Youtube, and spend five minutes watching it. Then read this post. You’ll thank me the next time someone in your office asks “who’s on first?”

In short, Costello, a new team member, asks Abbot, the new coach to tell him who is on the team. Abbot explains that Who’s on first, What’s on second, and I Don’t Know is on third. The comedic skit continues as Costello, who doesn’t realize that those are the actual names of the players, continues to ask who his new teammates are.

Have you ever had this experience at the office? Everyone knows something needs to be done but no one knows “who’s on first.”

To succeed you need to become the go-to person and Be On First.

Being on first is not about showing up every day, covering your base, and doing your job. If you’re not doing your job, you’re probably not on the team. As Engineer’s most of us are trained to problem-solve and think outside the box. Yet, when it comes to taking ownership of something that is outside of our expertise, the tendency may be to shy away. Being On First is training yourself to cover the base when no one else is on it.   When a co-worker asks for volunteers to complete a special task- outside of anybody’s job description- your first reaction should not only be to take the job but also to identify yourself, publically, as the key player covering the base.

If you’re a seasoned leader, you may not need to stretch a lot before running out to first. However, if you haven’t honed your skills yet, this might take some conscious training and forcing yourself to get out of your comfort zone.

When I was just out of school I worked for a company where the “to-do” meeting was a ritual every Monday morning. As we were going over one of the standing agenda items, everyone’s weekly schedule, the branch leader found himself double booked.   He had committed to present a paper on Bioreactors at a regional conference and also be an expert witness the same day. As it is currently beyond the laws of physics for a person to be in two places the same time, he looked up from his coffee, asked if anybody could give the presentation for him, and faced his senior engineers. When nobody replied I asked if the presentation was finished, and if he could spend an hour reviewing the material with me. I could tell that he was hesitant to give this job to someone fresh out of school, and I will be forever grateful that he pushed those concerns aside and gave me the opportunity to Be on First.

The next day I presented his material to a group of 40 engineers. In retrospect, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking. Although I had briefly studied bioreactors, I hadn’t worked on any projects involving bioreactors and didn’t have the same background as the branch leader. It turned out that my training has prepared me to review and digest material quickly and present it in a way that was meaningful to the audience. That is what being on first is all about. It’s about looking someone in the eye and saying yes when everyone else is looking down at the conference room table. It’s about knowing your strengths and being willing to step outside your comfort zone and covering the bag.

 By Being on First consistently, you not only stand out to the senior leadership at your company, but your peers will also respect and value you as a key team player.

What new responsibility are you going to take on to Be On First?