The Shiny Penny

Have you seen the new U.S. penny design? It took me by surprise. I guess I hadn’t been paying attention to what my local mint was producing (yes, local to me — the mint’s in Philadelphia). But what struck me first (yeah, no pun intended) was how shiny it was. That caught my eye, and then I looked at it more closely. Marveling over the penny certainly took my attention from what I was doing at the time.

A good friend of mine, and a marketing expert, Jim Shulman, calls this the “shiny penny syndrome.” What he means is that something “bright, shiny and different,” like the new U.S. penny, can take away our concentration from what’s really important in our lives. I certainly spent more than a penny’s worth of time examining the new penny design. Just like something new — like a new idea for a way to raise money or a new type of donor to approach — can take our attention.

How is this a career issue? Because in our careers, we see “shiny pennies” all of the time. Maybe it’s a new type of job that you never considered before or an organization whose mission suddenly strikes you as “the latest, greatest.”

But before you pick up that penny and spend any time with it, you need to ask yourself, “Is this for me?” Shiny pennies can take you off focus and in a direction that may feel good momentarily, but in the end most aren’t worth the time you put in. So think, before that coin, or new opportunity, takes your attention –- and costs you a lot more.