We are taught from school onwards to be “appropriate.” We use safe adjectives, we follow the consensus, and we stay within the guardrails of our industry. We treat our reputation like a fragile porcelain vase.
But a reputation isn’t a vase; it’s a muscle. If you don’t stress it, it withers. Here is why your “Safe Strategy” is actually the riskiest move you can make.
1. The “Edit-Back” Principle
It is infinitely easier for an editor to take a “wild” piece of writing and tone it down than it is to take a “boring” piece and spice it up. You can’t add soul to a spreadsheet.
The Editorial Rule: Write the “Dangerous Version” of your pitch first. Be too bold. Be a little bit “too much.” You can always edit back to safety, but you can rarely edit forward to greatness.
2. The Polarization Profit
If 50% of people love your idea and 50% of people hate it, you have a movement. If 100% of people “mildly agree” with your idea, you have a snooze-fest. In the media, we don’t look for agreement; we look for engagement. If your work doesn’t provoke a reaction, it hasn’t landed.
The Strategy: Stop trying to be the “sensible” choice. Be the choice that forces people to pick a side.
3. Fear is Your Compass
Whenever I’m nervous about hitting “Publish” on a column, that’s usually the sign that it’s the best thing I’ve written all month. That fluttering in your stomach isn’t anxiety; it’s your intuition telling you that you’ve finally stumbled onto something Honest.
The Action: If you aren’t a little bit embarrassed by your first draft, you haven’t been honest enough.
4. The “Standardization” Tax
The more you sound like everyone else, the more you are a “commodity.” Commodities are replaceable. If you use the same templates, the same buzzwords, and the same “best practices” as your competitors, you are essentially asking to be ignored. Your “weirdness”—that specific, quirky way you see the world—is the only thing that isn’t reproducible.
