Spartans, what is your profession?
We sometimes run into companies who say they don’t need what we’re selling. “We can do that ourselves,” they say. They’re right, of course.
I often think the same thing myself, about the services we choose not to buy. Why pay someone to handle our social media when we can do it ourselves? Or to come up with our marketing material? Or handle our customer service? Or do our accounting?
We know enough about these things to do them ourselves, at least right now. And we’re on a tight budget, so I think we’re right not to outsource many of them just yet.
But I’m still reminded of a scene from the (admittedly pretty mediocre) movie 300. The movie is a fictional retelling of the legendary Battle of Thermopylae, between the Persian Empire and an alliance of Greek city-states. In the scene, King Leonidas and 300 Spartan warriors, on their way to battle, encounter a large group of Arcadians looking to team up.
The leader of the Arcadians, surprised at Leonidas’ small force, suggests that Sparta doesn’t seem very committed to the war. In response, Leonidas asks several of the Arcadians what they do for a living. It becomes clear that the Arcadian group, though larger, is full of men with no military training.
Leonidas then asks his soldiers what their profession is. In unison, they give a battle cry.
The Arcadians had more people, but the Spartans had more people who actually knew what they were doing.
I spend most of my waking hours, and some of my sleeping ones, thinking about my profession. I worry about the big stuff and the minutiae. I expend all my energy, and may end up spending all my money, trying to get it right. This isn’t a side gig for me; this is what I do. I think it shows.
Could you manage without our service? Certainly. In fact, you may be right to manage without it, in the same way that I do without a bunch of services out there.
But I don’t lie to myself: Managing to do something ain’t the same as doing it well. When you need something done right, you’re often better off leaving it to the professionals.
