Gorick's Newsletter

Share what you have access to that others don't

Gorick Ng — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Earlier this month, Rent the Runway announced that its cofounder and CEO, Jennifer Hyman, was stepping down. As some of you can probably guess, I immediately found myself looking into how the company got started and what it’s done to stick around. Fast forward... and here's the outcome of my research.

Enjoy!

Gorick

PS: On the topic of stepping back, I'll be releasing my newsletter on a different schedule going forward: Instead of every Tuesday, you'll hear from me every other Tuesday. I'm still here—just shifting my time to a few new projects based on your feedback. (More to come soon!)

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

You'll have a positive impact on not only others’ lives, but also your own career.

THE STORY

Making designer dresses accessible to all

In 2008, Jennifer Hyman, a first-year MBA student, watched her sister buy an expensive designer dress for her wedding—knowing it would only be worn once. Even though it was the Great Recession, designer fashion remained costly and weddings, galas, and formal events still required people to dress up.

So, Hyman wondered: “What if you could access ‘whatever you wanted to wear without having to own it?’”

Jennifer Hyman, co-founder and former CEO of Rent the Runway

Hyman went back to campus and immediately shared her idea with a classmate, Jennifer Fleiss. Together, they decided to prove that “renting could make women feel amazing.”

One year later, Hyman and Fleiss launched “Rent the Runway”—an online platform offering high-end designer dress rentals.

Over the next 15 years, Rent the Runway would go on to…

Partner with established designers to gain access to more exclusive inventory
Focus on one-time event rentals, such as weddings and formal occasions
Introduce a subscription plan that lets users rotate items each month

Despite decreased demand in 2020, Rent the Runway went public in 2021, and by 2025 had rebounded to 147,000 active subscribers—its highest subscription rate ever.

A quick word from today’s sponsor:

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

What I learned from Hyman and Fleiss’ story is that many of us have access to something that others do not. Democratize access to that “thing,” and you won’t just make a big impact; you might even make it big yourself.

The important thing to remember is that the thing you’re democratizing doesn’t just have to be something physical; it could also be an idea.

1. Do you have an idea?

→ Try sharing it with others—and comparing it to a concept that others already understand.

→ E.g., “This is exactly like _______. The only difference is that instead of _______, we'd _______.”

2. Do you have experience?

→ Try becoming a coach, consultant, advisor, or even board member. Or, start by volunteering (like former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom I’ve talked about before) for a speaking role at an internal meeting or employee training session.

→ E.g., “The challenges you're facing with _______ look exactly like what I saw at _______. Could we chat about how I could help you _______?”

Democratizing access to an idea or thing comes with another benefit, even if you don’t become an overnight success from it (and let’s be real, overnight successes don’t exist, as we’ve discussed regarding MrBeast and Joe Biden): it shows off your Three C’s.

See you again at the end of June for our AMA,

Gorick

PS: I answer a career question from a subscriber every month. You can submit your own question here.

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (some with paywalls, but your first article should be free):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

1. Keynote speaking: If your organization is looking for speakers for your internship program, new hire orientation, new student orientation, manager training, all-hands meetings, recruiting season, year-end performance evaluation season, or something else, let's chat!

2. How to Say It: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting via hundreds of fill-in-the-blank scripts (just like the examples above). Free shipping on all orders over $40.

3. The Unspoken Rules: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck.” Used by top companies and MBA programs.

4. Soft skills crash course: Hard skills get you hired, but a lack of soft skills gets you fired. Equip your interns and early career talent with the essential behaviors of high performers in just 3.5 hours.

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

How to be well spoken

Tue, 26 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

ASK GORICK ANYTHING, EDITION #55

“How do you become a good speaker?”

💡 The quick answer: Be structured.

THE QUESTION

“My dream is to be an entrepreneur and communicating your vision is super important. How did you become such a good speaker?”

—Peter Walewender from Chicago, IL

GORICK’S RESPONSE

Hi Peter,

I’m honored to hear that you think I’m a good speaker! Here are my top 10 tips for becoming a powerful speaker:

1. Memorize a table of contents instead of a script.

I used to read off scripts until I realized three things:

A) Scripts make audiences question whether you really know your stuff.

B) You get bogged down trying to get every single word perfect.

C) Nobody but you knows what you accidentally left out.

Now, I only write a bulleted outline—like a book's table of contents. I note a few key phrases I need to hit, then I just speak, jumping mentally from one heading to the next.

2. Just keep moving forward.

Since no one knows your script, no one knows when you mess up. When I forget a detail (which happens a lot!) I just keep moving to my next point. If necessary, I’ll drop a “By the way...” later on, but I never pause to say “Sorry”—I just keep going as if everything is going as planned.

3. Deliver the bottom line upfront.

Before opening your mouth, isolate your main point. Say it, then pause.

Most people do the opposite. Instead of asking, “Are you available for coffee next week?” they say: “I'd love to pick your brain and happen to be in the office next week, so let me know if you have time to meet up, maybe we can get coffee or do a call...” That's a meandering mess of details that buries the lead.

4. Use examples over statements.

Clear people speak specifically. Unclear people speak in generalities that lead to ten people coming to ten different conclusions on what they mean.

If you catch yourself being abstract, pivot to a quick example. Sure, there may be a time and place to say something general like “I help business owners grow,” but, to a random person, saying “I helped Jenny, a retired teacher, launch her online coaching business” is a lot clearer.

5. Always give a “therefore.”

Listing problems sounds like complaining unless you provide a solution. If you say, “X is out of the office, and I'm running late,” you’re just delivering bad news.

Follow it with a “therefore”: “Therefore, let’s reschedule for a time that works for everyone.” Always tell people what action to take next. Otherwise, they’ll walk away confused—and not doing what you want them to do.

6. When in doubt, add structure.

I learned this in management consulting: one of the easiest ways to sound smart is to bucket your thoughts into simple categories (e.g., “Internal vs. External” or “Short-term vs. Long-term”). If you don't have categories, just say, “I have three points: number 1… number 2… number 3…”

Here’s the secret of the best on-the-fly frameworkers: most of the time, they say they have three points when they really only have two. That third one? They made it up as they were saying the first two.

7. Vary your intonation, volume, and pace.

If you sound bored by your own voice, your audience will be too. Vary your delivery to keep people engaged: speak uuuuuuup and dooooooown, fast and sloooooowly, LOUDLY and softly. This variety not only keeps people engaged but also ensures that whatever you want to emphasize actually ends up being heard.

8. Speak loudly.

This is a straightforward one: make sure that whoever you’re talking to can actually hear you.

If you’re speaking to a group, pretend like you are speaking to the person farthest away from you. If you’re speaking in a loud place, feel free to say either, “It’s a bit loud here. Do I need to speak up more?” or even “Want to step over to a quieter place?”

9. Slow down… and pause… and breathe when you’re not sure what you might say next.

When you lose your train of thought, don't fill the silence with “um” or “like.” Instead, deliberately slow down. Delivering. Your. Remaining. Words. Slowly. Buys. You. Time. To. Think. Use that extra runway to gather your thoughts. Once you've recovered, pick the pace back up. I do this one all the time.

10. Practice in low-stakes environments.

I’m sorry, but you can read this list a thousand times, and you still won’t improve in your public speaking. But guess what will?

Speaking a thousand times—and trying another bullet point from this list each time. Start in front of a mirror. Then, try it with a trusted friend. Then, try it with a close coworker. Then try it in a small team meeting. Keep extending that comfort zone and, before you know it, you’ll be comfortable in front of a crowd of strangers.

Bonus: Use this list to deconstruct good public speakers.

I still do this. Whenever I hear a great talk (in person or online), I return to this mental list and ask myself: what are they subconsciously doing that I like—and that I’ll try myself next time I’m in the same situation?

***

Am I missing anything? Reply to this email and let me know!

Hope this helps,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (some with paywalls, but your first article should be free):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

1. Keynote speaking: If your organization is looking for speakers for your internship program, new hire orientation, new student orientation, manager training, all-hands meetings, recruiting season, year-end performance evaluation season, or something else, let's chat!

2. How to Say It: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting via hundreds of fill-in-the-blank scripts (just like the examples above). Free shipping on all orders over $40.

3. The Unspoken Rules: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck.” Used by top companies and MBA programs.

4. Soft skills crash course: Hard skills get you hired, but a lack of soft skills gets you fired. Equip your interns and early career talent with the essential behaviors of high performers in just 3.5 hours.

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

Find a more efficient way

Gorick Ng — Tue, 19 May 2026 15:00:00 +0000

After sending yet another meme to my college roommates as a way of staying in touch, I decided to dig into the origins of the beloved “gif”—those moving pictures we've probably all sent before.

Let's get right to it!

Gorick

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Find a more efficient way.

You never know how it might impact others in your niche—or the world.

THE STORY

The GIF’s original purpose

Did you know that, before the GIF became the internet’s favorite way to send memes, it was a software engineer’s response to slow internet?

It was 1987. A software engineer named Steve Wilhite was working at the internet company CompuServe in Ohio.

At the time, sending images over dial up connections was slow and unreliable. Connections were frequently dropped, color files were often too large, and images didn’t look the same on every system.

While others either scratched their heads or accepted the problem as a fact of life, Wilhite had a different thought: if the problem is bandwidth, then why not reduce the size of the files?

Steve Wilhite, the creator of GIF.

So, he:

Reduced the number of colors available in 1 file
Designed a “revolutionary” algorithm to compress the image
Put multiple images in one file

He called it the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF.

The GIF launched in 1987 and was hailed as a practical solution to the internet’s issues.

Then, as the format gained more users, web browsers learned to “play” the GIF’s multiple images into the looping videos that modern internet users still recognize today.

Today, nearly 40 years later, practically anyone with an internet connection can create a GIF of their own.

An early GIF meme known as “Nyan Cat.”

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Find a more efficient way.

What I learned from Wilhite is the power of looking for more efficient ways of doing things.

So, the next time you find others staring at a problem at work (or life more broadly)…

Ask, “Is this an inevitable fact of life?”

If the answer is “no”, ask yourself, “What are 10 ways to get around this problem?” (And thanks to AI, you now have a brainstorm partner at your fingertips!)

Ask yourself, “Which option is fastest, cheapest, and most sustainable?"

As Wilhite discovered, you never know what your search for efficiency might lead to!

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

How Lee Iacocca rebounded after a layoff

Gorick Ng — Tue, 12 May 2026 15:00:00 +0000

It seems like every day, another company is laying people off.

If this is you or someone else you know, I hope you'll find solace in the story below (which is actually the very first story I wrote for my newsletter series).

Here's to brighter times ahead,

Gorick

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Keep developing your ideas.

Sometimes they need a different spin or to be heard by an entirely new audience.

THE STORY

After he was fired, the ex-President of Ford bounced back

It’s July 1978. Lee Iacocca was just fired as President of Ford after spending 32 years at the auto company.

Lee Iacocca

When Iacocca asked Henry Ford II, his boss, why he was fired, Ford replied, “Sometimes you just don’t like somebody.”

This could have been the end of Iacocca’s career. But no.

The following year, Chrysler, a competing automaker, hired Iacocca. Iacocca brought with him an idea that he had advocated for at Ford but that had been dismissed: a van that was big enough to fit a family but small enough to fit into a garage.

Fast forward, and Iacocca led Chrysler to pioneer the North American minivan.

So, the next time you see a minivan, remember that it may not exist had Iacocca not gotten fired—and brought his ideas with him.

The North American minivan

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Keep developing your ideas.

A robot can automate a task. An employer can lay you off. But your ideas? They’re what make you irreplaceable. And just because one person doesn’t like you or your ideas doesn’t mean you're worthless or that your ideas are dumb. You might just need a different audience.

Laid off (or worried about getting laid off)?

Look around at your job and complete this sentence: “It would have been so much better / faster / cheaper / easier if we had done [your idea] instead of [status quo]."
Look around the world and complete this sentence: “[Other organization] would love [your idea] because [everything you can learn about them].”
Now, ask yourself: "Who do I know at [other organization]?" or "Who do I know who can introduce me to [other organization]?"

You might learn, as Iacocca did, that you're onto something. You just need to find someone who thinks so too.

Not every idea will be worth your time, but some will be.

I know it because I’ve experienced it: If I hadn’t kept an ideas list when I found myself thinking, Wow, how come no one ever taught me how to manage my manager? I wouldn’t have gone on to write my book, The Unspoken Rules.

See you next week for our next story and unspoken rule!

—Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

Become the expert on "your people"

Gorick Ng — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:01:51 +0000

Time and time again, we hear stories about young geniuses who skipped school and made it big in a faraway city.

But sometimes, the most impressive founders are the ones who are right next door—who notice a need in their lives or a gap in their community, ask “Why don’t we have ______?”, and then—build it.

I’ve got not one, but two examples of these “starters” in this week’s email.

Keep reading to find out!

A quick word from today’s sponsor:

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Thank you for supporting the sponsors who help keep this newsletter free. If you’re interested in sponsoring a future edition and getting in front of 35,000 professionals, reply to this email.

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Become the expert on “your people.”

You know better than anybody around you what people like you need or want.

THE STORY

She designed a game for seniors and caught Apple’s attention

It was 2017. Masako Wakamiya was in her early 80s and retired after more than four decades at Mitsubishi Bank. One day, while looking for something to do, she found herself on her smartphone’s app store and realized: None of the games were tailored to older folks like her.

Instead of waiting for developers to design for older users, Wakamiya decided to build something herself.

Masako Wakamiya at 82.

“Old people hardly play game apps because they are not really fun for them,” Wakamiya shared. “I’ve often heard such complaints, so I thought I should make a game app designed for old people to have fun.”

So, in her 80s, she:

Learned app development basics
Designed the game around the pace, vision, and dexterity of older players
Used “Hinamatsuri” doll imagery for cultural familiarity
Avoided complex mechanics and fast interactions common in mainstream mobile games

Wakamiya’s game, “Hinadan,” attracted international media attention and Wakamiya was invited to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference as its oldest developer. There, she spoke with Apple leaders about aging, technology, and the needs of senior users.

Today, in her 90s, Wakamiya continues to share her story around the world.

Wakamiya and Apple CEO Tim Cook

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Become the expert on “your people”

What I learned from Wakamiya is that we all have an underutilized asset in our careers: our own lived experience.

Experiencing a specific problem due to your age, ethnicity, background, or something else? You’re not the first.

Wondering why there isn’t ______ yet to help make your experience better, easier, or less expensive? You’re also probably not the first.

Try…

Asking others like you a question like, “Is it just me or ______?”

Searching for your pain points online on Facebook groups, Reddit forums, or Yelp profiles to see what others are saying

Creating a prototype (which could be as simple as a pen and paper sketch to start!), showing it to people like you, and asking for their feedback

Who knows what impact you might make!

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

8 tips for career-conscious students

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Ask Gorick Anything, Edition #54.

This week's question is: “I’m a college student. How do I get ahead in today’s job market?”

Keep reading to find out.

PS: It’s the last week of my graduation sale for my HOW TO SAY IT® communication cards for professionals. Check it out below and order today for arrival by May 8! (You’ll get a newsletter exclusive discount plus a buy-one-get-one, all for free shipping.)

ASK GORICK ANYTHING

“I’m a college student. How do I get ahead in today’s job market?”

💡 The quick answer: AI is making everyone look the same on paper. To stand out, you need to return to the oldest of the old school tactics.

THE QUESTION

This is the time of year when my inbox is flooded with outreach from students on how to navigate the internship and post-grad job search process.

If you (or someone you know) is in this boat, here are my 8 tips for navigating this season’s job and internship search.

8 TIPS FOR CAREER-CONSCIOUS STUDENTS IN 2026

1. Pretend that the job search starts on day one

In the past, students arrived at college as blank slates. Today, more students than ever are showing up with resumes already full of research publications, non-profit leadership, and even corporate internships.

You cannot afford to wait until your senior year to start building your resume. You need to start in your first year—and use every extracurricular and internship to scaffold towards a bigger and more reputable opportunity.

The students getting hired are those who have spent their college years stacking competitive sports, side projects, and startup experience so that by the time they graduate, they don’t just have a degree—they have an entire page full of experience.

2. Decode the hidden calendars

In the past, the junior summer internship search started in the fall of junior year and the full-time job search started in the fall of senior year. Those days are over.

In competitive fields like finance and consulting, students are now networking for—and securing offers—18 to 21 months in advance (case in point: a sophomore mentee just landed a summer internship for the summer of 2027!).

If you aren’t aware of these hidden timelines, you’ll start looking after the process has already closed. If you have even the slightest idea of what you might want, go look up the hidden prerequisites now—whether it’s requirements around your major, GPA, or coursework.

3. Befriend the students ahead of you

I tell this to college freshmen all the time: some of the most valuable relationships you can build are with the juniors and seniors on campus. They know which companies are actually hiring, exactly what interview questions are being asked, and who’s who behind the scenes. Moreover, they’ll soon be the ones returning to campus, but on the other side of the career fair table.

Join the leadership teams of campus organizations that have a history of sending alumni to the firms you’re interested in. That way, you can access that secret spreadsheet of former executive members who will see you as a younger version of themselves—and prioritize helping you over that stranger who cold messaged them on LinkedIn.

4. Look beyond where everyone else is looking

I remember at Harvard that many of my peers trampled over one another to work at Kraft Heinz. Sure, it’s got a great Leadership Management Program, but it’s not like students came to Harvard wanting to sell ketchup—it’s because the company recruited on campus.

The lesson? Don’t just apply for the opportunities that come to your campus. If you’re open to living in a smaller city, look there. If you have contacts at smaller companies that your friends don’t even know by name, contact them.

Be a big fish in a smaller pond—and not a small fish in an artificially competitive pond.

If you’ve found this article helpful or think it could be useful to a student or new grad you know, please forward it!

By the way: I’m running a graduation sale on my HOW TO SAY IT® professional communication cards:

I’ve got 3 special discounts for you:

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5. Submit right when applications open

I’ve met many students who were hired at prestigious firms and other well-known organizations despite other candidates having higher GPAs.

Why? Because they submitted their application the day the portal opened.

Many employers review applications on a rolling basis, meaning they fill spots as applications come in rather than after the deadline. The time to polish your resume is weeks before applications open.

6. Use AI as your research assistant, not your ghostwriter

Don’t mistake the dopamine rush that comes from AI-generating dozens of cover letters for productivity—you’ll end up looking the same as everybody else and end up in the same place as everybody else: the rejection pile.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t use AI at all, though. Use AI to find commonalities with your interviewer or to synthesize company and industry news. That way, when an interviewer asks you the inevitable question of “Do you have any questions for me?” your answer won’t be “No”—it will be "Yes! I was researching your firm and noticed [News Item]; can you tell me more about [what’s not in the news]?".

7. Don’t use grad school to procrastinate

When the job market gets tough, many students instinctively retreat to grad school.

But, unless you are entering a field that requires an advanced degree (like law, medicine, or licensed social work), a Master’s degree without work experience doesn’t necessarily make you more hireable. It might just make you either more indecisive or look more expensive.

Don’t use another degree to avoid the discomfort of the job search. Prioritize real-world work experience over adding more letters behind your name.

8. Flex your “Three Cs” in every interaction

At the end of the day, hiring is still a human decision based on three silent questions:

Competence: Can you do the job well?
Commitment: Are you excited to be here specifically?
Compatibility: Do we actually get along?

Meeting someone for a “casual” coffee chat? Sending an email (or sitting on an email for later)? Ask yourself: “If I put myself in the shoes of the other person, what signals am I sending about how competent, committed, and compatible I am?”

I wish I had asked myself this question before I showed up to a lunch meeting with an alum in shorts and a t-shirt when he stepped out of the office wearing a suit and tie (true story!). This is also the question that students who apply everywhere but don’t hear back need to ask themselves.

Good luck!

Gorick

A version of this article was originally published on CNBC Make It. You can read the original piece here.

WHAT I’M READING

PS: Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 3 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

Reach "product-market fit"

Gorick Ng — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Ever since launching my flashcard series HOW TO SAY IT®, I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible about packaging: boxes, bags, bubble wrap, shrink wrap, and the list goes on!

Today’s story is inspired by that. Enjoy!

PS: If you’re looking for a useful, unique gift to give this graduation season, scroll down (special new grad discount included).

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Become the person who helps others find “product-market fit”

Because fresh perspectives often reveal opportunities and solutions that insiders overlook.

THE STORY

It failed twice before finding the right market

Did you know that Bubble Wrap—the bubbled plastic we see in packages—wasn’t invented to protect items at all?

It was 1957. Business partners Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes decided to invent a textured plastic wallpaper by sealing two layers of plastic together, trapping in pockets of air. They called their product “Bubble Wrap” and named their company Sealed Air.

But no one wanted squishy, bubbled plastic on their walls.

Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, the inventor of Bubble wrap.

So, the inventors marketed Bubble Wrap as greenhouse insulation—but nobody wanted it, either.

Then, IBM announced the IBM 1401, which was “considered the Model-T of the computer industry.” There was just one problem: it was fragile, so it was a pain to ship without it breaking in transit, especially given the industry standard of using “balled up newsprint” for protection.

3 key things happened next:

A marketer at Sealed Air, Frederick W. Bowers, realized that Bubble Wrap could be used for packaging
IBM became one of the first major customers of Bubble Wrap and used it to ship its 1401 computer
IBM’s adoption of this new packaging material validated Bubble Wrap’s use case as a protective material to the broader market

The result?

Over the next 10 years, Bubble Wrap became the default solution for protecting fragile items in transit. Fast forward more than 50 years, and today Sealed Air offers specialized packaging and protection for everything from food to medical supplies.

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Help others find “product-market fit”

I took away a number of lessons from this story:

“Product-market fit” is what happens when a solution meets a problem perfectly.
Just because something isn’t selling doesn’t mean it’s doomed. It could simply be that it’s not being “positioned” as the right solution to the right problem.
A surefire way to make an impact is by helping an idea find “product-market fit.”
Anyone can do this!

Here’s how I think about product-market fit:

Product market fit = (A) knowing what to sell, (B) to whom, and (C) how.

At work, we’re surrounded by “A” all the time. But few ideas catch on because they're not being sold to the right person (“B”) or in the right way (“C”).

See a coworker struggle to communicate an otherwise good idea or a company struggle to sell a product or service… and know what they’re missing?

Share your idea as Bubble Wrap’s marketer did!

Not everyone will listen, but one will—and it might just transform a stranger into an ally or a company into an employer.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule!

—Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

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STORY SOURCES

Listen to outsiders

Gorick Ng — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:41:37 +0000

Did you know that the average American takes a photo on their smartphone 6 times a day?

It wasn’t always this way. Keep reading to learn more about the person (and the person behind the person) who made “instant” photography possible—and the lessons we can apply to our own careers and lives.

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Listen to outsiders.

Because fresh perspectives often reveal opportunities and solutions that insiders overlook.

THE STORY

He listened to the question of a 3-year-old

It was 1943 and inventor Edwin H. Land and his family went on vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico. To preserve the memories, he brought his camera.

But it wasn’t the camera we know today. Back then, photography required patience. You had to wait days, sometimes weeks, before seeing the picture you took because it needed to be professionally developed.

Jennifer Land, his 3-year-old daughter, hated the idea of waiting. She asked her father, “Why can’t I see the pictures now?”

Jennifer’s simple yet logical question sparked something in Land’s mind.

“So, I went for a walk, haunted by my daughter’s question,” Land recalled. “During the course of the walk, the question kept coming, ‘Why not?’ Why not make a camera that gave a picture right away?”

E.H. Land’s instant photographic film patent drawing

So he:

Spent a few hours sketching up a “one-step” photographic system on that same vacation
Developed a film that could expose and develop itself using layers of chemicals activated by light and pressure over the next few years
Released the first Polaroid Land Camera in 1948, 5 years after his daughter’s commentary, and sold out immediately

Land’s 1947 public demonstration of instant photography in New York

Polaroid became a cultural icon and Land’s “impossible” idea paved the way for digital photography—all because he listened to a 3-year-old.

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Listen to outsiders

In your career, it’s easy to think the best ideas come from the most senior, most credentialed people in your field.

This may be true sometimes… but not all the time.

Sometimes, it’s the casual onlooker who doesn’t know the jargon, traditions, or “the way things have always been done” who holds the key to a breakthrough.

What does this mean for you?

The next time you’re looking at a company you’d like to work for and are thinking, “I can’t believe they aren’t doing _______!”... email a decision maker with your idea, share your strategy (or, better yet, a mockup or prototype), and ask for a call in lieu of submitting a resume and waiting for a call-back. (Who knows: you might just fast-track your way to a final-round interview.)
The next time you’re sitting in on a meeting at work and are thinking, “Why aren’t we considering _______?”... pull your manager aside afterwards and share your idea or raise it in the meeting if you’re following the unspoken rule. (Who knows: you might have just created a new job for yourself.)
The next time you’re in a new city and are thinking, “What should I do with this free afternoon?”... skim your LinkedIn or contact list to see if there’s someone you haven’t caught up with in a while. (Who knows: you might just learn something new that can change your perspective.)

After all, if a 3-year-old can spark an invention, who knows what might happen if you spoke up (and encouraged others to speak up)!

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

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STORY SOURCES

Your job title is a strawberry

Gorick Ng — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Recently, while feeding my toddler a strawberry, I slowly repeated the word “berry”... only to be corrected by a stranger sitting next to me. Fast forward... and here we have today's story and unspoken rule!

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Titles don’t define you. Impact does.

Your job title is just a label. What really matters is the value you create, the problems you solve, and the impact you make every day.

THE STORY

A surprising grocery store fact

If you’re like me, you’ve probably also assumed that “strawberries” are berries (like it says in the name).

But as it turns out, strawberries aren't actually berries—but bananas are.

Here’s what I learned on a recent dog walk:

A berry is “a fleshy fruit produced from a single flower containing one ovary.”
In other words, the seeds and pulp must develop from the ovary of a flower, and the seeds are usually embedded in the fleshy interior.

Based on that definition? Bananas, cucumbers, kiwis, and even eggplants all qualify as berries.

Meanwhile, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries—despite their names and appearances—don't make the cut.

Why? They're actually “aggregate fruits” because they're derived from a single flower with more than one ovary.

Aggregate fruits

It seems arbitrary until I remember that science doesn't care what something looks like. It cares how it's formed.

And yes, in classic Gorick fashion, I think that's a pretty accurate metaphor for your career. (Let me explain…)

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

It’s not your title that defines you, it’s your impact

We often assume that job titles reflect value.

A “Senior Manager” must be more capable than a “Coordinator,” right?

But just like the banana doesn't look like a berry (yet technically is), your job title doesn't always reflect the depth of your work or the impact you have.

Whether it’s “Copywriter,” “Analyst,” or “Assistant,” job titles are merely quick, convenient summaries to help others understand where you fit.

But they rarely tell the full story.

They don't capture your judgment, your initiative, your ideas, and moreover, your impact.

Maybe you're a copywriter who didn’t just write copy, but also did customer segmentation analysis for a $10M brand and even built a new content approval workflow that 3 clients now use.

If you don’t sell it, no one would ever know.

Or take the assistant who didn’t just manage calendars but who also organized a major summit, built a new task management system used by a team of 12, and hired and trained an outsourced social media manager.

Again: No one would know unless you said it!

So…

The next time you’re asked to introduce yourself in a meeting… don’t just stop at your job title. Tell them, “I lead*…” (followed by what you actually do).

The next time you’re asked to walk someone through your resume… don’t just read off the page. Tell them, “At [organization], I led* [this project] which [achieved these results].”

The next time you’re updating your resume… don’t just use “Technician II” if this means nothing to anyone outside of your team (if they even remember it). Write “Cybersecurity Analyst” if that’s actually the role you were playing and anyone you’d ask for a future reference would agree.

Remember: Your real value isn't in the label—it's in the substance you bring every day.

*Don’t shy away from the word “led”! While many people use “responsible for” on their resumes, “led” is a much stronger alternative that conveys authority and results. You aren’t exaggerating; you’re simply giving yourself the credit you deserve for the work you’ve already done.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

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STORY SOURCES

How to stop getting overlooked at work

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Welcome to Ask Gorick Anything, Edition #53.

This week's question is: “I’m a subject matter expert. How do I get promoted by merit?”

Keep reading to find out.

ASK GORICK ANYTHING

“I’m a subject matter expert trying to get promoted. How to advance my career on merit instead of networking?”

💡 The quick answer: Know your path, be vocal about your achievements, and look for a way “in.”

THE QUESTION

“How do you elevate your career based on merit and not purely networking? I prefer to accomplish tasks, generate results, and move on to the next challenge. I have spent my entire career doing that and providing that data to my superiors that present it (from slides I made) and they continue to get praised and promoted. Meanwhile, I am still in a position of being the SME [subject matter expert] and grinding everything out and being paid less than the people that are just good talkers.”

— “Rob” from Highlands Ranch, CO

GORICK’S RESPONSE

Hi “Rob,”

It sounds like you’re in a frustrating situation (that is also unfortunately all too common).

If you want to get promoted on merit alone, I’m sorry to have to tell you there’s no such thing. After all, it’s people who decide who gets promoted—and it’s simply not possible to be picked if people don’t even know what you’re capable of (let alone that you exist at all).

Though it’s not entirely possible to check a box and get promoted, there are ways to rely more on your contributions than on your schmoozing.

Here are the 3 things I’d suggest doing:

Reverse engineer your predecessors

Look at the people who used to hold your role and who are now in the role(s) you want. Go onto their LinkedIn profiles and internal bios (if they exist) and then ask yourself:

How long were they in my current role? (This can tell you if you’re too early)
What did they contribute? (This can tell you if you’re doing enough)
Why do you think they were picked? (This can tell you if the circumstances are in your favor)

Then, consider contacting them or asking for an introduction from a mutual contact and then trying a script like this from the How to Say It® communication card series:

From “The Ultimate Bundle”

Publicly available information can tell you a lot about whether you’re on track, but nothing can replace a one-on-one conversation with someone who’s done it before. (And if they said that it was because of who they knew, how they sold themselves, and how they timed the conversation, then that will tell you a lot about how things really work in your organization.)

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Articulate your value

Ask yourself:

What exists thanks to you being on the team (that wasn’t there before)?

What did you catch or fix before disaster struck (that other people didn’t)?

What is cheaper / faster / better / safer (thanks to you)?

What were you recognized for / hand-picked to own or lead?

What did you deliver when the circumstances weren't ideal?

I know you expressed frustration towards “being paid less than the people that are just good talkers,” but doing good work and selling your value are not mutually exclusive.

After all, if you did good work but no one knows about it, then your contributions are like a tree that fell in the forest with no one hearing it.

So, the next time you’re asked to introduce yourself, don’t just stop at “Hi, my name is Rob.” Continue on with “...And I lead [project] which is an effort to [goal].”

And, the next time you’re asked to share what you’ve done as part of your annual review, don’t just stop at “Responsible for…” Reframe your output in terms of outcomes with language like, “Before, [disaster]. Now, [miracle] after I [heroism].”

Know what opportunities to look out for

Just because you were busy doesn’t mean you were impactful. Here’s a framework I recently shared with the VP cohort at a global bank (yes, I speak at organizations!):

Focus on "massive pains" and "mission criticals"

The idea is this: you weren’t hired to be busy; you were hired to help the higher-ups achieve their goals. The question is: how well are you aligning yourself to the goals they actually care about?

To find out, put yourself in the shoes of 4 people:

Your manager
Your manager’s manager
The leader of your entire department
The leader of your entire organization

Next, ask yourself 3 questions:

What are their top 3 priorities?
Where does my current to-do list sit in their to-do list?
What can I do to better orient myself towards their top 3 goals?

Not sure? One of my favorite scripts from my How to Say It® communication card series (from the Terrific Teamwork deck) is: “What are your highest priorities over the coming weeks / quarter / year?” When in doubt, ask this question, listen to the response, and let their own words guide your to-do list.

The reality is that if the higher-ups can’t see how your work helps them achieve their goals (and how your ascension can help them even more than you already help them now), you’re merely a smart person who deserves their respect—and not a valuable one who deserves a promotion. So, don’t just be busy. Achieve goals—and big ones.

Hope this helped! You’ve got this!

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

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WHAT I’M READING

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MORE OF MY WORK

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Gorick Ng
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Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

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Ask me a career question

Get a foot in the door

Gorick Ng — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Given how many of you are telling me about your career switch or job search woes (I’m sorry it’s so hard!), I thought I’d share a story and lesson on this exact topic.

Hope you find it useful.

Gorick

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Get a foot in the door. Then, prove yourself.

Not everyone is in a position to do it, but if you can, it may be worth it.

THE STORY

From homeless to unpaid intern to stockbroker

Have you ever seen The Pursuit of Happyness? It’s one of my favorite movies of the 2000s and chronicles the real-life story of a homeless single father who became a stockbroker.

(If you haven’t seen it yet, consider this week’s story a light spoiler.)

It was the early 1980s. Chris Gardner was selling medical equipment in San Francisco while raising his toddler son with his then-partner. Money was tight, tensions were high, and the constant financial strain was pulling the relationship apart.

One day, Gardner saw a man drive by in a shiny Ferrari. Curious, he asked, “What do you do for a living?”

The man, Bob Bridges, said he was a stockbroker. This chance interaction led to Bridges offering Gardner an internship at a brokerage firm. Gardner jumped at the chance.

But the internship paid nothing. And when his partner left soon after, Gardner and his son slipped into homelessness, with the two sleeping in shelters, office buildings, and even public restrooms after hours.

Chris Gardner with his son

Still, Gardner threw himself into the work. He made roughly 200 cold calls a day, arrived early, stayed late, and absorbed everything he could.

Chris Gardner’s memoir, The Pursuit of Happyness

Gardner’s tenacity paid off. Competing against 19 other interns, many with MBAs, he landed the only full-time stockbroker job available.

Fast forward and he turned his life around, going from homeless to multi-millionaire.

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Get whatever foot you can in the door. Then, prove yourself.

No, today’s lesson isn’t to sleep in a public bathroom and work for free.

It is, however, a lesson in the importance of getting your foot in the door and then proving yourself.

You'd be surprised at how many opportunities are out there!

Met someone new at a social event? Ask, “What’s keeping you busy these days?”, listen to the answer, and, if the work interests you, offer to help with a phrase like, “This sounds similar to what I did in my past life as a [role]. Could I help you [with this task]?”
Spot a higher-up at work you’d like to become your mentor? Go to a company talk of theirs or look out for announcements from them, and then say, “I love what you’re doing with [project] and would love to contribute. Can I be an extra pair of hands? I have a background in [this area] and can help you [accomplish these goals].”

Not everyone will say “yes,” and not everyone will even take your offer positively. But one will, and that one person might just change your life, as was the case with Gardner.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

How to be more memorable in your career

Gorick Ng — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Given that the Oscars just happened over the weekend, I thought I'd revive one of my favorite career stories from my newsletter archive on the “unspoken rule” of getting an Oscar—and what we can all learn for our careers and lives.

Enjoy!

Gorick

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Being memorable matters.

So make yourself visible, show your work, and don’t let others forget your value.

THE STORY

What Oscar award winners (and losers) have to teach us about being memorable

Two days ago, 20 million people tuned in for Hollywood’s “biggest night”: the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars.

Every year, nominees across 22 categories compete for “the most prestigious awards in the entertainment industry,” from “Best Actor” to “Best Original Score.”

The system is simple: whoever gets the most votes wins.

Who gets to vote? Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Presumably, the best of the best wins… right?

Not necessarily.

The 2026 Oscars stage.

So, who has a better shot at winning? Films released towards the end of the year—and therefore right before voting begins.

The data doesn’t lie: the vast majority of Oscar-nominated films are released in September, October, November, and especially December (as shown in the lighter green regions in the chart below).

Recency Bias in Oscar Nominees. Image belongs to u/zzzev via r/dataisbeautiful

Psychologists even have a term for this: recency bias, or the “tendency to place greater weight” on more recent events.

(This bias explains a host of things in life. This is why it’s easier to remember items at the end of a list over items at the beginning of a list!)

“But what if,” you ask, “Movie studios secretly know which movies have the potential to win the Oscars—and wait until the end of the year to release them?”

This “unspoken rule” of winning the Oscars is really an open secret. Hollywood even has terms to explain the games that studios play:

When are blockbuster epics (aka “Oscar Bait”) released? Towards the latter half and end of the year, to stay fresh in the viewers’ minds.
When are low-budget movies with lower expectations released? During the “Dump Months” of January and February, when audiences are more likely to forget by the following year.

Fast forward to this past Sunday, March 15, 2026, and the 98th Oscars reinforced this trend: 6 of the 7 films that won major awards were released in the second half of 2025 or January 2026 (right before the cutoff). There was one exception: Sinners, released in April of 2025, which won 3 awards.

Winners of the top 12 Oscar Awards in 2026. Notice the trend under the "Release Date" column?

So, the next time you see an Oscar-nominated or Oscar-winning film, it’s time to ask yourself, “Did this movie win because of great acting, directing, costumes, visual effects, etc., or did it win because it had the right strategy?”

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Being remembered matters—in Hollywood and in your career.

Hollywood isn’t the only place where recency bias exists. It’s true in every workplace.

That year-end performance evaluation? Your manager will be thinking about your most recent performance—while forgetting that heroic effort you pulled off in February.

That promotion or hiring decision? The committee will be advocating for the candidate who demonstrated The 3 C’s most recently and consistently.

The bottom line is: Don’t assume that people will remember what you’ve done or even who you are. Remind people at every turn.

Here are just 2 of many everyday workplace situations that people overlook:

1. When you’re introducing yourself

2. When you’re delivering a status update

1. When introducing themselves, most people merely stop at “My name is _______.”

This is a missed opportunity to remind others of what you are working on and, moreover, why you matter.

Instead, try saying, “My name is _______ and I am a _______ working on _______ whose goal is to _______.”

2. When delivering a status update, most people merely stop at “It’s going well!”

This is also a missed opportunity to remind others of what you are working on and, moreover, why they should care.

Instead, try saying, “I’m working on _______ where the objective is to _______. So far, I’ve _______ (and discovered / and was surprised to find that _______). As a next step, I will _______.”

People don’t know what you know and can’t read your mind, so if you don’t share, others risk never knowing—and never giving you the credit you deserve.

The more you “exist,” the more likely others will see your potential—and the more likely they are to pull you into the jobs that don’t get posted and meetings that don’t get shared.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

Society rewards commercialization

Gorick Ng — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

We all know that the world is not fair. But rather than dwell on the inequity, let’s do something about it.

Here comes today’s unspoken rule!

Gorick

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Society rewards commercialization.

Great ideas don’t change the world on their own. Execution and distribution do.

THE STORY

He turned ideas into action

It was 1984 and Alexey Pajitnov, a young software engineer at the Soviet Academy of Sciences, had just created a simple falling-block game using the now-defunct Electronika 60 computer.

He named it “Tetris.”

Both novel and addictive given the lack of other entertainment options at the time, the game soon spread to the entire school and then all over the Soviet Union.

The prototype version of Tetris

Then, nothing happened. As was customary in the Soviet Union, the government owned the game, and it remained nothing more than an underground sensation.

Then, 2 years later in 1986, a series of chance events unfolded:

A copy of the game leaked to Hungary
Robert Stein, a British salesperson, saw the game in Hungary
Stein licensed the game from Moscow*
Stein sold the UK rights to Microsoft and the US rights to a company called Spectrum HoloByte
2 years later, in 1988, Spectrum HoloByte brought the game to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas
Henk Rogers, an American entrepreneur, saw the game and successfully negotiated with the Soviet Government to sell its console rights to Nintendo
Nintendo bundled the game into all of its Game Boy consoles

Tetris on Nintendo Game Boy

The result?

The Game Boy family sold roughly 118 million units worldwide
Tetris was widely credited as Nintendo Game Boy’s “killer app” and a major driver of its broad demographic appeal
Tetris became one of the best-selling games of all time, eventually surpassing 520 million copies across platforms

*I’ve simplified the story for brevity. The real story has more twists and turns. If you’re interested, here’s the Wikipedia page.

Henk Rogers and Alexey Pajitnov

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Society rewards commercialization

Society rewards the people who bring ideas to market, not just the ones who think them up.

Alexey Pajitnov invented Tetris, but it was Henk Rogers who commercialized and distributed it when the creator couldn’t and the Soviet state didn’t care to.
Scientists discover breakthroughs, but it’s often the businesspeople who turn them into products that reap the financial reward.
Ideas get tossed around in work meetings all the time, but it’s often the person who packages those ideas into a solution who gets promoted.

This is not to say that scientists are not doing a noble job or that the person who came up with that brilliant idea doesn’t deserve a promotion. (If I had it my way, I’d want to reward the unsung heroes.) But it does show how the current world economy prioritizes the bridge to market.

What does this mean for you?

The next time you have an idea, write it down—but don’t stop there.

Ask yourself, “Who would want this?”
Create a mock or prototype and have someone test it
Then ask the other person, “Who else should I talk to?”

Not all ideas will become the next Tetris, but I’m confident you’ve got an idea inside your head that’s at least as big as Tetris. The problem? It’s still merely an idea.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule!

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

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Gorick Ng
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Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

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STORY SOURCES

Repurpose what works

Gorick Ng — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

I never knew how useful vacuum cleaners and paper towels were until I became a dad. In classic Gorick fashion, I decided to investigate the origins of the vacuum I use—and came out on the other end with today’s story.

Enjoy!

Gorick

PS: Last week, I asked for artist recommendations—and I was overwhelmed by the number of referrals and responses! Thank you to everyone who shouted themselves or a friend out. I’m having a ton of fun sifting through the options and replying and am looking forward to sharing more about this project soon.

PPS: Do you know how to design book covers, format the interior of books/magazines, and/or can you design cute unique characters? I’m looking for all 3 (preferably together), so please reach out if this sounds like you or someone you know!

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Repurpose what works.

You might just shortcut your way to a brilliant idea.

THE STORY

How the Dyson vacuum cleaner was invented

It was 1978. James Dyson, a 31-year-old inventor and wheelbarrow factory owner in England, was frustrated by how easily his industrial filters clogged.

One day, while visiting a timber mill, Dyson saw a giant “cyclone separator” that spun air so fast that it separated dust from air without clogging.

Curious if the same solution could help clean up his wheelbarrow factory, Dyson went home and built his own cyclone system, which “worked beautifully.”

Not long after, Dyson realized his home vacuum had the same clogged filter problem.

“Why can’t you use a little version of the 30-foot high one?” Dyson wondered.

James Dyson working on the early bagless vacuum

Over the next 15 years, Dyson…

Built over 5 thousand prototypes of his bagless vacuum using cyclone technology
Launched his first cyclonic vacuum in Japan, where it won a design award
Opened his own vacuum company in the UK and released the Dyson DC01, which became the best-selling vacuum cleaner in the country within 18 months

An early version of the Dyson vacuum

Today, nearly 50 years after Dyson first went looking for a way to prevent his factory filters from getting clogged, his cyclone technology now powers an array of tools—vacuums, hand dryers, fans, air purifiers, and hair tools—that are used by tens of millions of people worldwide.

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Repurpose what works

What I learned from Dyson’s story is the power of being able to look at a problem, find a solution that’s being used for a totally different setting, and “translate” that solution for the problem at hand.

And this ability isn’t just for inventors or entrepreneurs!

Applying for a job for which you don’t have relevant experience?

Or, trying to pitch yourself for a project at work, but don’t have the perfect background?

Try saying this:

“[Job requirements] are what I did every day when I was at [prior position]. The only difference is [the setting / the customer].”

Example: “Sales was what I did every day when I was a middle school teacher. The only difference is that instead of trying to convince adults to buy our product, I was trying to convince 7th graders that chemistry is interesting.”

If Dyson can repurpose a factory cyclone separator to vacuum the dust behind your couch, you can definitely repurpose your prior experience to solve whatever problem you’re trying to convince others to hire you for.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule!

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

“How do I fix my manager?”

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Hello friends!

Before we dive into this week’s newsletter, I have a request:

Do you have any friends who are talented at sketching cute original characters?

If so, please kindly reply to this email and share their portfolio / Instagram / website with me!

This is for a tiny side project which I’m excited to tell you more about soon 🤗

Thanks so much,

Gorick

Welcome to Ask Gorick Anything, Edition #52.

This week's question is: “How do I fix my manager?”

Keep reading to find out.

I dedicate the last Tuesday of every month to answering a subscriber’s career question. Share your question here for a chance to have it featured in my newsletter.

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ASK GORICK ANYTHING

“How do I fix my manager?”

💡 The quick answer: Don’t.

THE QUESTION

“Hi Gorick, I have a supervisor who seems to be going through some things. He arrives grumpy every day, is quick to anger and spends all day complaining about his job. I think he might be dealing with alcohol issues. How do I lead from the bottom and encourage him to get some help? Thank-you.”

— “Anonymous” from Dallas, TX

GORICK’S RESPONSE

Hi “Anonymous,”

I am so sorry to hear about what you’re going through. Many jobs are hard enough as it is, but having a supervisor who is a firecracker is enough to turn a challenging role into an unbearable one.

Your instinct to help is noble. However, in a professional context—especially when there is a power imbalance—you have to move strategically.

Here’s how I’d personally navigate the situation:

1. Ask yourself: “What do I hope to gain?” and “What do I not want to lose?”

Fixing your boss isn’t your job—and attempting to do so might backfire if he becomes defensive. If he needs help, I hope he finds it, but not at the expense of your professional or mental well-being. Before stepping in, ensure you aren’t risking your own reputation or crossing your own personal boundaries.

2. Ask a co-worker who’s worked with your boss for longer, “I’ve noticed [manager] has been under a lot of pressure lately; is this typical, or have you found a specific way to work with him?”

“Strength in numbers,” as the saying goes. The more you can confirm your observations with others, the better they can have your back and corroborate your story if things go awry. You’ll also learn if this is a temporary rough patch or a systemic issue the company has long ignored.

3. Try saying, “Tell me more,” the next time he complains and see what he says.

Anger is easy to see; the source of that anger is much harder to pinpoint. Before jumping to conclusions about substance abuse, hear the situation from his perspective. At the very least, you’ll understand what triggers him so you can maneuver around his landmines.

4. Approach someone your manager listens to and say, “I’d love your perspective on a situation. Might you have a few minutes to chat?” followed by “I couldn't help but notice [manager] has been [behavior] lately. Am I seeing things or have you noticed something similar?”

As I wrote in The Unspoken Rules page 145 (“Read between the People”), there are 5 types of influencers in the workplace–see screenshot below.

One of those “influencers” is what I call “advisors,” which I define as “people whom your manager and other senior people tend to trust—even if it's not clear why—who can help you convince the higher ups to agree with your ideas.”

Your goal isn’t to be a snitch, but to see if they’ve noticed the same behavior and if they are in a position to step in. Sometimes the message is only as good as the messenger; if a trusted confidant can’t reach him, it’s unlikely a subordinate can.

From The Unspoken Rules page 145 (“Read between the People”)

5. Limit your exposure and communicate with a paper trail.

It's easy to play “he said, she said” when conversations happen live. If his erratic behavior risks tarnishing your professional reputation, reply to emails with the phrase, “Please see below for my responses in line,” and then insert your reply under the appropriate line of their original email so you can directly reference what they said—and everybody else on the email thread can see who’s on the right side of history. At the very least, you’re keeping interactions brief and strictly focused on the work.

6. Keep an eye out for other opportunities.

I recommend this to everyone: Keep your network warm. Attend company events, meet people on other teams, and be a “plus one” to social functions. When you meet a leader you admire, ask yourself: “Would I want to work for this person?” If the answer is yes, offer to help them on a project. You deserve to work for someone who is as invested in your success as you are in your work.

7. Contact HR if it becomes a safety issue.

If his behavior crosses into harassment or creates a safety hazard, involve HR. Frame the situation not as a medical diagnosis (e.g., “I think he’s an alcoholic”), but as a business risk: “I am concerned about the team’s ability to function safely and effectively.” Present your facts, show your documentation, and bring your allies so you aren’t standing alone.

Hope this helps!

Gorick

PS: Have a career question for me? Submit a question here and I might answer it in my monthly "Ask Gorick Anything" series, which appears on the last Tuesday of each month!

WHAT I’M READING

PS: Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 3 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

Master the warm handoff

Gorick Ng — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:00:16 +0000

One of the most common mistakes I see in anyone who's trying to make a career switch or who’s going through the job search is to rely on online applications.

What matters (especially in the age of AI, when anyone can put together the perfect resume and cover letter) isn't the number of applications you click “Submit” on. It's the quality of the relationships you already have.

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Master the warm handoff.

CEOs don’t get their jobs by applying online. They end up at the top because someone they know (or who knew of them) pulled them in.

THE STORY

How this 2x CEO got her job (and what we can learn)

It’s 1984 and a young chemist named Rosalind Brewer is working as a research scientist at Kimberly-Clark, the company behind Huggies, Kleenex, and more. She has a stable job and a clear technical career ahead.

Fast forward four decades, and Brewer has become:

CEO of Sam’s Club
COO and Group President of Starbucks
CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance (the parent company to Walgreens, Duane Reade, and more)
Interim President of Spelman College

How did she do it?

She mastered what I call the “warm handoff.”

She started by doing a good job. Then, she used every opportunity she could to meet people who’d go on to remember her and keep her in mind.

Here’s how it happened:

1984 to 2006: While at Kimberly-Clark, Brewer met the company’s CEO, Tom Falk, who saw her good work and encouraged her to move from research to manufacturing and global operations. She took his advice and, in doing so, went from scientist to leader.
2006: Brewer ended up in the spreadsheet of an executive recruiter who was tracking executive-level moves. The resulting outreach led her from Kimberly-Clark to Walmart as President of its U.S. East business, where she caught the eye of then CEO Mike Duke, who became her mentor.
2012: When Walmart needed a new CEO for Sam’s Club (a Walmart division), Duke, now an active sponsor of Brewer’s, personally championed her to become CEO of Sam’s Club. This promotion also made Brewer the first woman and first Black person to lead a Walmart division.
2016: One day, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, came to visit Walmart’s headquarters. When then-CEO Doug McMillon (read my story on him here) couldn’t meet him due to a last-minute scheduling conflict, Brewer took McMillon’s place—and went on to leave a positive lasting impression on Schultz.
2017: Howard Schultz—who remembered how impressed he was with Brewer during his visit to Walmart the prior year—contacted Brewer to join the Starbucks Board of Directors and then asked her to step into the role of COO and Group President later that year.
2019: When Amazon was looking to fill a seat on its Board of Directors, it went looking for someone who had physical retail expertise to help it grow its Whole Foods and Amazon Go businesses. Who did they find? Brewer.
2021: When Walgreens Boots Alliance went looking for a new CEO, it needed someone who had “strong expertise in digital and technological transformation.” Who had this experience, thanks to Amazon and Starbucks? Brewer.
2025: Brewer had long served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at her alma mater, Spelman College. When the school needed a new President, whom did they tap? Brewer.

Rosalind Brewer in 2023 via Bloomberg

A quick word from today’s sponsor:

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Master the “warm handoff”

Brewer's story demonstrates how everyone at the top gets their job in 1 of 3 ways:

By meeting someone higher up, impressing them, and then getting tapped by them when an opening comes up

By building a reputation as someone who's an expert in a certain area, and then picking up the recruiter call when it comes in

By getting a foot in the door as a volunteer, advisor, or board member

…and doing this consistently over decades (41 years in Brewer’s case).

So, the next time you find yourself wanting a certain role, consider whether they are even accepting applications through an online portal.

You may be surprised: They may have already found someone through a warm connection!

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

“The secret to happiness? Feeling loved” (University of Rochester)
“Risk-averse parents are fueling Britain’s ambition crisis, VCs say” (CNBC)
“Why winter in the US is crazy this year, in five charts” (MSN)

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

Distribute your work

Gorick Ng — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 14:00:21 +0000

Those of you who watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday will know that it was not just the football game that everybody was talking about, but also a certain performer during the halftime show: Bad Bunny. How did he become such a hit... and what can we learn for our own careers? Read on to find out!

Gorick

PS: This is a refresh of a prior newsletter story! Here’s the link to see the full archive of prior newsletters.

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Distribute your work.

Talent and hard work are not rewarded on their own. Without distribution, the best work goes ignored or overlooked.

THE STORY

From grocery clerk to international superstar

In 2016, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was bagging groceries in Puerto Rico to pay for his university tuition.

10 years later, he’s the 2026 Super Bowl LX Halftime Show performer and the most-streamed Spotify artist for a record-breaking 4 times, defying every “conventional” rule with his Spanish-only performances.

So, how do you go from grocery bagger to the “world’s largest stage”? You out-distribute everyone else. Here’s how Bad Bunny did it:

2016

Benito, a student at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo and a grocery bagger at his local supermarket, releases a song called “Diles.”

Within 2 weeks, “Diles” racks up 1 million plays—and Benito gets a call from Noah Asaad, founder of indie record label Rimas Entertainment. They decide to partner together.
Despite many artists testing “crossover strategies” at the time (mixing styles to appeal to a broader audience), Benito and Noah “just flooded the internet with content” and released “dozens of dozens of singles in quick succession, always with a video attached.”

2017-2018

Benito builds his audience by collaborating with established artists.

2017: Benito collaborates with artists Ozuna and Nicky Jam, earning him his first No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs Billboard chart. (I’ve written about the “collab” technique before with Ed Sheeran, which you can read more about here.)
2018: Benito collaborates with artists Cardi B and J Balvin for “I Like It”, which lands at the No.1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100. Benito is thrust into the mainstream spotlight just in time for his debut album “X100pre” 7 months later.

2020-2022

Benito enters—and stays—in the spotlight.

2020: Benito appears as Shakira’s special guest at the LIV Super Bowl Halftime Show and becomes Spotify’s first non-English performer to be named as Spotify’s top artist. (You can read my story on why Spotify’s “Wrapped” phenomenon works here.)
2021: Bad Bunny earns his first Grammy for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album. He’s also named as Spotify’s No. 1 streamed artist in the world—for the second time in a row—without even releasing a new album.
2022: He takes home the Artist of the Year at MTV’s Video Music Awards and earns Apple Music’s Top Artist award. At 18.5 billion streams worldwide, Benito is named as Spotify’s top artist for the third time in a row.

2023-2025

Benito’s popularity goes from digital streaming to center stage.

2023: Bad Bunny headlines the music festival Coachella (the festival’s first non-English headliner in history).
2024: His “Most Wanted Tour” grosses $200 million.
2025: He reclaims the top spot as Spotify’s Number 1 Most Streamed Artist Globally (dethroning Taylor Swift, whose rise to stardom from the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville is another singer-songwriter origin story I’ve written about) with 19.8 billion streams.

Most recently, in 2026: Bad Bunny wins Album of the Year at the 68th Grammy Awards, marking the first time a Spanish-language album has won. Shortly after, he performs (also almost exclusively in Spanish) at the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show. The “historic performance” becomes the most-watched in Super Bowl history at over 63 million views.

Bad Bunny at the 2026 Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.

A quick word from today’s sponsor:

Better input, better output

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Distribute your work

In the workplace, so many people (and no doubt many of you) do quality work… but no one knows about it! This is like a talented musical artist singing in the shower.

What does distribution look like in the workplace? Sharing what you do and what you’re capable of by…

1. Presenting your work (or at least being in the room)

How? Try saying, “I’d love to see how the conversation unfolds. Would you be open to me joining?” Or, “I was reflecting on your feedback about _______ (e.g., speaking up more) and would love to put it into practice. What would it take for me to do the voiceover?”

2. Being the sender of the email (or at least being on the email thread)

How? Try saying, “I’m happy to send it out! Would it be helpful for me to draft the email and run it by you to save you a step?”

3. Sending team status updates about your work (or at least speaking about it one-on-one)

How? Try saying, “I wanted to give you a heads up that on _______ (project), I just finished _______. As a next step, I will _______. Does this all work for you?”

4. Slipping in what you do into your intro when you introduce yourself

How? Try saying, “Hi! I’m _______ and I am a _______ on _______ team. My focus is on _______. Prior to _______, I was at _______ where I _______. Nice to meet you all!”

You may not dream of headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, but you do deserve to have your hard work recognized—and rewarded. The problem is, this recognition can’t happen if people don't even know that your work exists.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

“These 'unspoken rules' are the real secrets to success, says Harvard career advisor: 'They aren't taught in school’” (CNBC)
“Research finds AI-integrated coursework strengthens student learning and career skills” (Phys Org)
“First-Gen Growth Can Feel Like Belonging and Betrayal” (Psychology Today)

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

“Comparison is the thief of joy”

Gorick Ng — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 14:00:20 +0000

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games start on February 6, 2026. If you find yourself watching, you may be interested in seeing the different reactions of athletes on the podium (at least, that’s how I felt after learning the following).

Hope you are all staying warm and safe out there!

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Change your reference point.

Don’t just compare “up”—compare down. Your satisfaction isn’t just about your title, your salary, or your promotions, but also your point of comparison.

THE STORY

Gold and bronze medalists have this in common

In 1995, researchers who were studying counterfactual thinking (i.e., those moments when you wonder “What if?”) landed upon a surprising discovery among Olympic medalists: bronze medalists consistently appeared visibly happier than the silver medalists who had outperformed them.

At first glance, this finding seems counterintuitive. Shouldn’t silver medalists feel more satisfied than those who placed third? After all, they beat out the bronze medalists!

Skeptical of the results, another group of scientists tried to replicate the study 26 years later in 2021. This time, though, they fed photos of Olympians posing at the medal stand into facial expression analysis software and analyzed 413 athletes from 67 countries across 142 sporting events.

When they compared the expressions of all the medalists, they indeed saw the same pattern: silver medalists often looked disappointed, while bronze medalists showed genuine happiness.

Here are some examples:

Matt Ghaffari, Greco-Roman Wrestling, 1996: After a match against Aleksandr Karelin, Ghaffari took home the silver. But instead of celebrating his achievement, he “wept, unable to hide his devastation.”

McKayla Maroney, Gymnastics, 2012: Maroney stood on the podium with a visibly unimpressed expression, which later became an internet meme.

From L to R: Olympic silver medalists Matt Ghaffari and McKayla Maroney

Fu Yuanhui, Swimming, 2016: Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui claimed the bronze medal in the women’s 100 meter backstroke. In a moment of pure joy and surprise, she exclaimed, “I was that fast? I am so happy.”
David Boudia, Diving, 2016: In the men’s 10-meter platform event at the Rio Olympics, Boudia earned bronze and said, “It’s easy to be discontent with the result… but to still become a bronze medalist is pretty special.”

From L to R: Olympic bronze medalists Fu Yuanhui and David Boudia

The reason? Perspective.

Silver medalists tend to engage in what’s called “upward comparison”, meaning they compare themselves to the gold medalist and focus on how close they were to first place.

Bronze medalists, on the other hand, engage in “downward comparison”, meaning they compare themselves to the competitors who didn’t make it onto the podium at all.

Is there a lesson for our careers and lives here? You bet there is!

A quick word from today’s sponsor:

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Change your reference point

When I learned about this study, I immediately thought back to one of my favorite quotes of all time: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

It’s more than just a pithy statement. It’s also backed by research! It’s easy to forget the wins and dwell on all that we’ve missed or lost.

So, what can you do?

Here’s what I’ve personally found helpful:

Whenever I find myself scrolling through social media and lamenting over all the friends who seem wealthier, healthier, more successful, and happier, I fill in these blanks:

“I feel like I failed because I [don’t have / didn't get] ___________.”
“However, I am still ahead of the version of myself that didn’t have ___________.”
“I’m also ahead of all the people who ___________, ___________, ___________.”

Example: “I feel like I failed because I didn’t get the VP title and the bonus that I wanted. However, I am still ahead of the version of myself from just a year ago that didn’t have the feedback from clients that they’d rather go to me than anyone else on the team. I’m also ahead of all the people at my level who’ve been laid off.”

To be clear, I'm not saying to settle! It's important to diagnose what happened, ask for feedback, and, most importantly, learn. What I am saying, though, is that glass-half-full people live happier lives—and you may find it helpful to see the glass half full as well.

Change your reference point to focus on what you have rather than what you lack and you might just live a happier life, one minor thought at a time.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

“Highly successful people do 3 things that many neglect, says Harvard career expert” (shameless plug, sorry!) (CNBC)
“What time should you wake up? Probably not 5 a.m.” (MSN)
“How AI is changing the job search — and how to make it work for you” (QZ)

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

STORY SOURCES

“I'm 63. Fight for a promotion or move on?”

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:01:09 +0000

Welcome to Ask Gorick Anything, Edition #51.

This week's question is: “I'm 63. Fight for a promotion or move on?”

Keep reading to find out.

I dedicate the last Tuesday of every month to answering a subscriber’s career question. Share your question here for a chance to have it featured in my newsletter.

Not subscribed? Join Gorick’s Newsletter now!

A quick word from today’s sponsor:

Keep pace with your calendar

Dictate investor updates, board notes, and daily rundowns and get final-draft writing you can paste immediately. Wispr Flow preserves nuance and uses voice snippets for repeatable founder comms. Try Wispr Flow for founders.

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Thank you for supporting the sponsors who help keep this newsletter free. If you’re interested in sponsoring a future edition and getting in front of 35,000 professionals, reply to this email.

ASK GORICK ANYTHING

“I'm 63. Fight for a promotion or move on?”

💡 The quick answer: If you're being held back by factors you can't control, don't jump ship yet—but do start looking.

THE QUESTION

“I’m 63 and in what I expect to be my final career as an instructional designer. I’ve been with my company for 15 years, and in my current ID role for 5 years, I’m not planning to retire anytime soon, and I’m finally in a position to save for my future.

My challenge is that I feel I contribute significantly to the team—I ask the hard questions, improve processes, and I’m a team player. Yet I receive little recognition. My manager continues to find fault with my performance, and leadership recently promoted someone with less experience simply because he’s more visible in BRGs and has a larger internal network.

I was recently assigned a complex, high‑visibility project, but with very little support. It almost feels like a setup for failure. I’m not interested in managing people; I prefer leading through influence. But I do want to advance to senior instructional designer, and that should come with more than a minimal raise.

At this point, I’m unsure at my age if I should stay and keep pushing for advancement or start looking for a new role elsewhere. How do I navigate this stage of my career and position myself for the promotion I’ve earned?”

— “Anonymous” from Columbus, OH

GORICK’S RESPONSE

Hi “Anonymous,”

I’m sorry it’s been so challenging.

If I had to guess what’s going on without actually having a chance to stick on a mustache, wear a wig, walk into your workplace, and observe you at work, I’d venture to guess that your manager doesn’t like you (and maybe even wants you gone) and it’s because of one (or two) of two issues:

You’ve overshot or undershot your zones of competence, commitment, or compatibility
Your manager feels threatened by you (or just doesn’t like you for some reason)

I could be totally wrong! But here’s how I came to this diagnosis from afar using the limited amount of information you’ve shared:

A. “I feel I contribute significantly to the team—I ask the hard questions, improve processes, and I’m a team player”: What’s wrong?

Unfortunately, it’s not what you believe you’re contributing to the team, but what others believe you’re contributing to the team. Perception is reality (or at least other people's reality).

Put yourself in the shoes of your manager, look at yourself, and ask: “Are these hard questions and proposals welcome or not welcome?”

Welcome = I agree with your ideas + they don’t make me look bad + they don’t give me more work I don’t want (i.e., you’re competent, committed, and compatible)
Not welcome = I disagree with your ideas + they make me look bad + they give me more work I don’t want (i.e., you’ve overshot your zones of competence, commitment, and/or compatibility and now I'm on the defensive)

If you’re sure your comments are welcome, then maybe this isn’t the problem.

But if you’re not sure, then there’s a chance that your ideas—regardless of how brilliant—are actually backfiring because you're violating some unspoken rule of the workplace.

B. “My manager continues to find fault with my performance” / “It almost feels like a setup for failure”: Why?

If your manager keeps finding fault in your performance, then either you actually have a performance issue or they’re consciously or subconsciously fabricating an issue to make a case for your dismissal.

Put yourself in the shoes of your manager, look at yourself, and ask: “Which of the following feelings am I inclined to think?”

“These ideas are nice, but what good are these ideas when you aren’t doing your job in the way I want?”
- If this is your problem, try doing things your manager’s way before speaking up further.
“You’ve overshot your Three C’s, so now I’m annoyed (and therefore want you gone).”
- If is is your problem, consider asking your manager in your next one on one, “I’ve been reflecting on my work over the past while and feel like I could have done a better job of _______. I want to make your life easier and value your opinion and would love to get your advice on what I can do differently.”
“You’re making me look bad in front of people I care to impress (and therefore want you gone).”
- If this is your problem, consider giving them more credit in some upcoming meetings and seeing how they react.
“I want this other person I like more to get promoted, so all I can do is keep you down.”
- If this is your problem, I’m afraid there isn’t an easy solution since it's hard to change people's minds, especially if this is a zero-sum game.

C. “Leadership recently promoted someone with less experience simply because he’s more visible in BRGs and has a larger internal network”: What am I missing?

If this is happening, then it’s a good sign that doing your job well is only half of your job in this organization. To get ahead, you need to follow the unspoken rules of being seen, heard, and remembered by the decision makers. Often this means…

Volunteering for BRGs, ERGs, committees, and task forces
Introducing yourself to senior leaders*
Offering to help these senior leaders on their pet projects, doing a good job, and convincing them to pull you into more (and more important) work
Meeting people across the organizations**

FYI: If "networking" feels unnatural and you're struggling to even find the words to say, I have workplace "Mad Libs" that can help.

You also shared this: "I’m unsure at my age if I should stay and keep pushing for advancement or start looking for a new role elsewhere."

My advice? Put out feelers: reconnect with old friends and ask for introductions on the side, but keep this job for now.

At best, you'll find a better role with a manager you can get along with better and an organization that's more aligned with your values.

At worst, you met some new people, reconnected with old colleagues, and have a better pulse on the state of the job market, so you can be better informed and better networked for a future jump.

What I wouldn't do is quit outright and then look. Always look on the side! It's a tough economy to be looking for a job right now. It's doubly tough if you're not currently employed. It's triply tough if you're in your 60s.

Hope this helps!

Gorick

PS: Have a career question for me? Submit a question here and I might answer it in my monthly "Ask Gorick Anything" series, which now appears on the last Tuesday of each month!

*Trying to meet senior leaders? Consider approaching after town halls, striking up a conversation through existing meetings, bumping into them in the hallway, getting introduced through a mutual contact, or cold emailing them.

**Trying to meet people across organizations? Try attending happy hours, grabbing lunch or coffee with others, showing up early to meetings and chit-chatting, following up with people one-on-one after meetings, getting introduced via existing contacts, or simply messaging people, starting with those who have something in common with you.

WHAT I’M READING

PS: Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

“The bruising reality of searching for a job at 65” (MSN)
“The Real Economics of AI and Jobs” (Time Magazine)
“Gen Z is cutting back on retirement savings” (Yahoo Finance)

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 3 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

You’re evaluated on more than what’s visible

Gorick Ng — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 14:00:14 +0000

I love movies (proof is in my Spotify Wrapped and my prior story on Star Wars!), which means I’m always finding myself in a Google rabbit hole when I watch one. Here’s a recent result of that curiosity. Enjoy!

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

You’re evaluated on more than what’s visible.

You may think the most important things on your resume are your years of experience or your number of credentials. But sometimes what truly matters (to your current or future employer) is what’s unspoken.

THE STORY

A physics professor is selected for an unlikely role

You may have heard of or even seen the movie Oppenheimer (2023), which follows the true story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb.

But did you know that tucked behind the Oscar-winning movie is a career lesson on how to become the no-brainer pick for a high-stakes role?

In 1942, the U.S. was racing to build a nuclear weapon before Nazi Germany could develop one. The fear was that if the Nazis succeeded first, they could win World War II—and dominate the world with its nuclear might.

So, the Manhattan Project was born—a top-secret U.S. government program to design and build the atomic bomb.

To succeed, the U.S. needed someone to lead the Los Alamos laboratory, the project’s scientific hub. This leader had to do more than understand science. They had to unite a diverse range of personalities and translate theory into a practical weapon.

J. Robert Oppenheimer teaching in the field of quantum mechanics.

That’s where J. Robert Oppenheimer came in. At the time, he was a physics professor at UC Berkeley who had “earned the respect of scientific greats such as Albert Einstein.”

But he was also “absolutely the most unlikely choice.” He wasn’t a Nobel laureate, hadn’t led large teams, and lacked wartime leadership experience.

Yet General Leslie Groves, the commanding general on the Manhattan Project, chose Oppenheimer despite receiving “only opposition.”

Why?

Because Groves saw that Oppenheimer had a certain “charisma, ambition, and brilliance”—that could make him capable of the impossible.

Groves’ “leap of faith” proved right.

Oppenheimer, in addition to his technical skill, had a unique ability that others didn’t: he could “take scientists with different perspectives and bring them to a consensus.”

Oppenheimer’s leadership at Los Alamos succeeded in terms of what mattered most when he was hired: delivering the world’s first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945, before Nazi Germany.

J. Robert Oppenheimer points to a photo of a mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb.

A chance to make a positive impact:

Give first-generation students the advice that you wish you’d had!

Looking for a way to make an impact in the new year?

👉️ Become a CareerSpring Volunteer Advisor!

CareerSpring is a non-profit organization that helps empower FGLI (first-generation, low-income) students across the United States in their career journeys.

As a Volunteer Advisor, you’ll get the chance to help someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pass on the advice that you wish you’d gotten sooner.

I’m a Volunteer Advisor myself and always feel that the time was well spent. I hope you get a chance to see what I mean!

(There are no long-term commitments required. Sessions are held virtually for 30 minutes, scheduled entirely at your convenience.)

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

You’re evaluated on more than what’s visible

Looking for a new job or trying to get promoted? You may think that in order to be the best candidate, you need to fit the bill perfectly.

But that’s not always true! Like Oppenheimer, you’re being evaluated on more than what shows up on your resume or LinkedIn profile.

Consider these 2 ways to stand out:

If you’re early in your career, you may not have all the years of experience that a resume says are “required”, but you may still have the skills that are wanted—and needed. Try reframing your experience with these fill in the blanks:

“While my [role / position] with ______ was about ______ on the outside, it was really about ______ at the end of the day—which is also the focus of [future area] and a realm that I’d really like to continue [exploring / working in / applying my skills to / ______].”

If you’re mid- or late-career, you may have all the years of experience and more as required by a job description, but still find yourself competing against younger or cheaper talent. When asked to walk others through your resume or to introduce yourself, don't just stick to the bullet points you’ve already written! Make sure to also add a phrase like this:

“Beyond what's written on my resume, I also wanted to add that during ______, my [firm / company / program] went through [change / crisis]. I became the go-to person for ______ and even [led / architected / sold] ______ which is directly analogous with what you're trying to do with ______ with the only difference being ______.”

Oppenheimer wasn’t chosen because of what was most visible. He was chosen because of what was valuable. Make sure you share what sets you apart because people can’t give you credit for something that they don’t even know about.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

“Changing careers: ‘My job began to feel hollow ... I felt I’d lost myself somewhere’” (The Irish Times)
“Where homes are most (and least) affordable” (Axios)
“They were told they could have it all. So why are so many moms leaving their jobs?” (USA Today)

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

Gorick Ng
hello@gorick.com
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

Follow me on LinkedIn
Ask me a career question

Gorick's Newsletter

Share what you have access to that others don't

Share what you have access to that others don't.

THE STORY

Making designer dresses accessible to all

Become An AI Expert In Just 5 Minutes

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Share what you have access to that others don't.

WHAT I’M READING

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STORY SOURCES

How to be well spoken

“How do you become a good speaker?”

THE QUESTION

GORICK’S RESPONSE

1. Memorize a table of contents instead of a script.

2. Just keep moving forward.

3. Deliver the bottom line upfront.

4. Use examples over statements.

5. Always give a “therefore.”

6. When in doubt, add structure.

7. Vary your intonation, volume, and pace.

8. Speak loudly.

9. Slow down… and pause… and breathe when you’re not sure what you might say next.

10. Practice in low-stakes environments.

Bonus: Use this list to deconstruct good public speakers.

WHAT I’M READING

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The GIF’s original purpose

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Find a more efficient way.

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How Lee Iacocca rebounded after a layoff

Keep developing your ideas.

THE STORY

After he was fired, the ex-President of Ford bounced back

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Keep developing your ideas.

WHAT I’M READING

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Luxury Flowers, Crafted Locally

Become the expert on “your people.”

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She designed a game for seniors and caught Apple’s attention

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Become the expert on “your people”

WHAT I’M READING

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STORY SOURCES

8 tips for career-conscious students

“I’m a college student. How do I get ahead in today’s job market?”

THE QUESTION

8 TIPS FOR CAREER-CONSCIOUS STUDENTS IN 2026

1. Pretend that the job search starts on day one

2. Decode the hidden calendars

3. Befriend the students ahead of you

4. Look beyond where everyone else is looking

5. Submit right when applications open

6. Use AI as your research assistant, not your ghostwriter

7. Don’t use grad school to procrastinate

8. Flex your “Three Cs” in every interaction

WHAT I’M READING

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Reach "product-market fit"

Become the person who helps others find “product-market fit”

THE STORY

It failed twice before finding the right market

The career tool for new grads

CONGRATSGRADS26

THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Help others find “product-market fit”

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