“When You Do Things Right, People Won’t Be Sure You’ve Done Anything at All”
Futurama – Godfellas Episode
Thoughts
It’s been years since I watched Futurama in any capacity. Yet I still remember the profound feeling that came over me when I heard this line. While I cannot recall the place or time, I can vividly recall the surreal feeling that came over me when I listened to this quote. How strange to have a single cartoon create a deep moment of introspection.
Futurama: Godfellas
Bender floats through space with a microsociety that has attached itself to his body. He learns the hard lessons that actions have consequences, both good and bad. While humorous, this episode sank into my subconscious for years.
Application
When I first connected with this quote, it wasn’t just about the message, instead it was about the mirror it held up to my own journey. In leadership, in life, doing the right thing often goes unnoticed. That’s the hard truth we hate to admit. What people do notice? The mistakes. The misses. The shortfalls, yours and everyone else’s around them. That’s the default setting of perception, but true growth begins when you recognize that pattern and rise above it. When you make a conscious effort to change it.
I’ve worked under managers who led through fear, passive-aggressiveness, and insecurity, what I call the “Napoleon Approach.” Leadership wasn’t their strength, but every one of them taught me something. Mostly by showing me who I didn’t want to become. And for that, I’m still grateful. The lessons learned the hard way leave us with the scars of wisdom on our psyche.
Lesson?
Yes, a lesson. Simply put, it’s not the work you do, it’s the result you create. You can do everything right and still fail, and when you do, there will be those managers who cannot see the forest through the trees. You cannot judge yourself by those managers, those people in your life. You can only judge yourself when you hold up the mirror and ask yourself…
“Did I do my best?”