Who is this guy?

There’s a popular trope in television and film called the out of character alert.

It’s when a person is pretending to be someone else, and they unwittingly say something that would be against type for the individual they’re impersonating.

Friends, family members and coworkers tilt their heads like confused dogs.

Hmm, that’s weird. David is acting contrary to the way he normally behaves. Who is this guy?

What’s interesting about the out of character alert is, popular culture typically portrays it as a negative thing. It’s a plot twist or a harbinger of awful things to come later in the story.

But sometimes acting out of character is exactly what we need to grow. It’s how we ripen into more mature ways of relating to ourselves, others and the world.

Years ago during the research and development phase of building Prolific, I would send biweekly progress reports to a small circle of colleagues. Partly to keep a record of my creative journey, partly to keep myself accountable, partly to add a layer of connection to an otherwise lonely project, and partly to get feedback and encouragement from trusted peers.

One report was particularly technical in its depiction of my software’s information architecture, user experience and revenue model. Which, as someone who is more of an artist than an administrator, was difficult for me to write.

That kind of stuff hurts my brain. In fact, half of the people on my list jokingly responded with something to the effect of, whoa, who is this guy?

But not in a disappointing way. My friends were delighted to see that a right brained, abstract thinking person was learning new and exciting things about subjects that were formerly off limits to him. Talk about an out of character alert.

When was the last time you fully immersed yourself in tasks that were completely outside of your skillset?

Doing so isn’t an affront to your authentic self. Remember, identity is not something given, once and for all. There’s no fixed point at which you can finally proclaim, okay, this is it, this is all I am.

Identity is a malleable and performable entity. Your core personality may have been set from an early age, but there’s still new development to layer on top of the foundation.

Everyone needs to adapt and evolve. Learning cannot be left to chance.

Next time you find yourself standing on the borderline between everything you have been and a new way of being, do something out of character. Show yourself that you are capable of acting in new ways.

You never know what kinds of positive plot twists might result.

What new learning could widen your understanding of what’s was possible for you?