What it’s Like to Sail on a Pirate Ship?

Ever wonder what it was like to sail on a pirate ship? 

The diversity of the crew and their backgrounds.

The shared experiences of each crew member. 

The different adventures that each day would bring. 

Maybe battling for your life against the big corporate armada.

(Oops almost gave away the analogy.)

I have run serval successful entertainment front line production and support companies throughout my 30 plus career. 

I have hired hundreds during that time. From the completely unexperienced to legendary talent. 

But if you lined them all up or even tried to group them according to some logical sort, what you would find is the most diverse group of people ever assembled. 

That would be my pirate ship.

They all differ in appearance, approach to a challenge, interpersonal skills, personal interest, gender, age, race, life experiences and most importantly usually would have nothing in common with each other in the “real” world.

But none of that ever mattered to me. I always believed the differences were what made us successful. It was the unique blend of talents and life experiences that made the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

That small group of diverse talent was why we were always able to accomplish so much more than the larger corporate armadas with their crews of clones.

The secret to our crews’ success wasn’t the diversity alone but the fact they all gave each other their space to be different. 

Bringing a new person “aboard”.

When a new person arrived on the crew, the team was initially wary of why I choose them and how they would fit it.

Honestly, I could never point to something specific and still can’t.  It was always a gut feeling. Yes, and at times my gut failed me.  When that happened the new crew member would either find their place in the crew or over board they went. (They usually didn’t get the “heave hoe” until I helped them land a new gig)

Over time we all learned, different and not agreeing, isn’t a bad thing as long as you were willing to pull your weight and were aligned to succeed together. 

Together we were and are able to accept and succeed at gigs way beyond our comfort level. Like producing live NY Giants programming on location for the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI. We were supported with very basic technology and even less of a budget. We not only found a way, we nailed it. So much so that I was award (on behalf of my crew) two Super Bowl rings.

Individually our crew has worked on thousands of legendary gigs, US Open, Saturday Night Live, Good Morning, Good Morning America, ESPN Boxing, Latin Grammys.  Supported stadium concerts going back to Michael Jackson Victory tour, The Who’s Kids are Alright tour, to last week’s MTV Music Awards and hundreds of legendary shows and programming in between.

All those individual successes can be track back to a single point, their time on the Ferro Pirate ship. There they learn the invaluable yet intangible skill of collaborating, trusting, sharing and learning from people they might have otherwise ignored. 

No matter where you are in your career, whether it’s just getting started or if you’re a legend in your field, opening your mind to other professional points of view, styles or methodology is critical to your growth.

We all talk about building your “network of connections” but we never mention stepping out of your comfort zone and embracing diversity. Diversity in this case is not the current political spin.

The Diversity I’m speaking of are the people whose approach to the industry is different than yours and although they may represent themselves differently

I guarantee you professionally they are of value to your career.

They will widen your creative vision.

Show you new approaches to problem solving.

Advance your grasp of new technology.

And together you will conquer projects you may have otherwise avoided.

Building your contacts and expanding your network is important

BUT diversifying that network is critical.

“Avast ye maties, Up anchor and raise the main sail. We are about to shove off to conquer the world.”

 Sorry couldn’t help myself. LOL