My dad was my baseball coach growing up. Every year during little league tryouts, we’d look for the same thing: fast kids.
The idea was pretty straight forward. When building a team, we cared less about who could catch 5 balls in a row or hit a home run. Anyone at that age can learn how to do the basics of baseball. What we cared about was hustle. Who ran as hard as they could all the way through the finish line? Who had pep in their step during every play? That’s what stood out.
When looking for people to hire, I always look for what I call “fast kids”. In a professional setting, someone who is a fast kid is someone who has raw talent in a lot of areas. A versatalist, of sorts. Someone who in one moment could be drafting a news release and in another signing a major deal. Both coming up with the marketing plan for the year and executing the marketing plan for the year. I could continue to provide random examples, but hopefully you get the point.
I like to think of myself as a fast kid, which has always made me feel more comfortable taking roles that are a bit of a stretch. As long as I’m honest during the interview process and I share my true motivations for joining the team, I respect the decision and step up to the challenge. This was the case when I was a freshmen on varsity soccer, when I got into UCLA, and when I’ve gotten nearly every job offer of my life.
Though I’m a big believer that experience isn’t totally relevant and people should be considered based on their talent/abilities instead of their prior roles, I’m also a complete and total believer that there is absolutely no replacement for experience and time spent in the work force.
Onetime I got the feedback that my work “lacked polish” and I thought it was lame feedback and wrote it off as such. First of all, it was true. More importantly, I now realize that almost everything I work on gets better and better over time. My writing: improving over time. My communication skills: improving over time. My attention to detail: improving over time. As a professional, I’m continually getting more and more polished by the variety of experiences I’m accumulating throughout my career.
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” - Bruce Lee
I’m not encouraging people to go out and try a million things with their newfound belief that they are a fast kid. We are all fast kids in different realms of life. The key is to find your area where your variety of skills all come together nicely, and then put in rep after rep after rep.
Julia Child talks about how you can’t be afraid to fail in cooking and it’s no different in life:
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Fast Kids