I’m not into quick fixes. I don’t trust them. The answer to tough questions is never a simple answer. I’m especially leery of self-help techniques, the memes you see on social media. Like “Think Positive Thoughts” or “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

No. It’s not true. Really bad stuff happens even to people who do good things — look at Jesus or his followers, or Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’ve been talking to my staff about this really smart author named Seth Godin and we’ve been reading a book of his called Lynchpin. He thinks that no matter how mundane your job might be, there’s always a way to add creativity and genius to it.

Human beings, Godin believes, are not cogs in a wheel. We are not machines. During our discussions at staff meetings, I would always refer to the people who work at toll booths. They take your money then they push a button so the gate does up so you can proceed on your journey.

People who work at those booths are human barriers, keeping you from going where you want to go. And most of the time, they have little to nothing to give. They act like cogs in a wheel.

I’m leaving Chicago’s O’hare airport and I’m in line at one of those booths — not a toll booth, but at the Enterprise Rental booth. Same thing as a toll booth — a person holds the power to push the button to let you through.

And I meet Camilla. You’ve got to watch this.


Even though I’m not into quick fixes, there was something about this lady that touched me deeply. Didn’t seem to be a quick fix, seemed to be a woman who was a Lynchpin — adding creativity and value and genius, even to a mundane job.

After I shot the video I asked Camilla for her email address. When I returned from the trip, I sent her an email. And she responded with this.


I’m not into quick fixes, but if we are ever to find “attention or new found fame,” this is the way to find it.