In terms of workplace culture and career trajectory, saying that someone “has great potential” or any potential already presupposes a role or a specific level of achievement. “Maybe they could be a [insert job title] someday.”
 
Potential is always used in the context of an outside observer. Maybe a manager, maybe an executive, maybe an HR recruiter.
 
This person “has great potential.” For what? That’s my question.
 
Potential to do great things in the world, or potential to execute a job especially well?
 
It may sound like semantics, but in today’s world, I think that distinction is actually becoming really important.
 
Do we look at people’s future in the context of their potential – that is, what they could do in the context of our organization's roles and structures?
 
Or, do we look at people’s future in terms of impact with continuous support in their areas of skill and interest?
 
I think using the term ‘potential’ might unintentionally place a ceiling on any one person’s impact.
 
For hundreds of years now, in a post-industrialized workplace, we operate in roles. Established jobs, established roles, established titles. The work demands these X jobs with Y roles. We build companies on these roles, and try to fill them with good people.
 
By extension, leaders look at others and try to “maximize their potential”, but it’s still in the context of our pre-defined roles.
 
What happens when those roles shift?
 
When tasks change?
 
What happens when AI supplants plenty of things we used to do, and brings about many new things that we’ll only begin to do in the future?

The problem with my description of someone’s 'potential' is that I’m assuming a natural limit to what they can achieve based on the roles I envision.

 
The problem is that there isn’t a limit.
 
I keep coming back to 2004's Cady Heron (it's pronounced "Katie", IYKYK)... there is no limit!

 
If my peak potential had been the best foodrunner in a country club, I would never have left the job I started at 16.
 
If my potential had been doing art sketches in college, I’d still be drawing away on Etsy.
 
If my potential had been to be the best fire protection designer, I’d still be furiously hammering away in that regard.
 
You see where I’m going, and it’s the same for you too.
 
What I’m seeing in today’s world is people breaking through ceilings that they previously would never have thought possible.
 
It’s not just a “huh, I wouldn’t have thought I could do that” – it’s a rocket ship ride of learning and growth far, far faster than they would have ever thought possible.
 
Accessible information online. AI as a coach and a tutor. Leaning into learning and truly owning our education and upskilling.
 
I’m not talking about “ChatGPT made me this nice bobblehead image of myself that I posted online,” I’m talking about designers becoming tool creators, plan reviewers turned entrepreneurs, FPEs turned product designers.

 
There’s a world where you can imagine, brainstorm, and create easier and faster than we’ve ever seen before. There’s a world where we can all be multi-faceted and skilled in multiple ways that we’ve never been able to lean into before. And it’s happening right now, all the time.
 
How many people do you know who had side hustles back in the 1990s? Early 2000s?
 
Maybe there was under-the-table moonlight work going on. People have always had some hobbies on the side.
 
But compared to now?
 
Every day, I hear from people who have toes in different pools. Maybe it’s fire-related, maybe not. Maybe it’s consulting during the day, writing at night. Plan reviews at sunup, teaching at sundown. Wherever you want to learn and grow – wherever you want to upskill – it’s right there.
 
Leaning into our areas of skill and interest – even if they don’t fit into a conventional role – perhaps especially when they don’t fit in a conventional role – those are the ways we end up having far greater impact than we’d ever think possible.
 
Looking at someone through the lens of their potential might be an outdated perspective for our roles and the workplace today.
 
What truly is our ‘potential’ if what we’re able to achieve is limitless? What is ‘potential’ if our learning, our skills, our interests are always-evolving?
 
Our potential is no longer fixed, nor tied to predefined roles.
 
We should embrace the idea that we can always adapt, evolve, and be newer and better versions of ourselves. We don’t need to be defined by ‘potential’ – the future’s out there for us to create for ourselves.
 
 
 
 
p.s. Thanks for joining me for another soapbox of career commentary. I get fired up about these things, and I hope you find the perspective useful-enough to take something away and apply it to what you do.
 
In the next article, I’ll share the six-month-out analogy that is almost always top of mind, and is the only way that I think we can alter our near-term future. It’ll be a bit more grounded than this one. Thanks for reading!

​- Joe

It's that time of year again! Come find us and talk shop at Booth #1440 at the 2025 NFPA Conference & Expo at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas next week.

We'll be on the one of the center aisles. Come find us in the sea of fun!

For those who have watched what we've done and taken part in the community here, thank you! You already know that this meager blog and a book have come a very long way, transforming into an outlet for community discussion on real-world fire protection-specific challenges.

It's come a very, very long way.

We take on a variety of causes around here, but I've learned in talking with many people that we haven't been particularly clear on what those are.

I'm often asked, 'What do you actually do? What are you working on? What are you working towards?'

I talk about significant change a lot, and in the interest of transparency and helping give a holistic picture of what change we're actually trying to bring about in the industry, I'm excited to share our first-ever Community Impact Report.

I'm not even sure yet what to call it nor what frequency you'll want it, but with it, I'd like to share a complete-picture look at (1) what we're trying to accomplish and (2) what we're doing to move the needle.

​It's more than just the blog - it's a big-picture look at all that we've got going on.

So with that in mind, our subscriber today in just a few minutes will get our first Community Report. You can see the initiatives (our goals, minus recent updates) here: www.meyerfire.com/about.html