🃏'I call bullsh*t'

Did you ever play the card game BS?

It all centers around the moment when you look another player dead in the eyes and say (or shout), "I call bullshit." Then they have to flip up their cards so you can see if they've been lying.

Even if you've never played the card game, I'm guessing you've had moments in your career where you called (or wish you had called) BS. Maybe you didn't say it out loud, but someone made you feel like you had to act a certain way or try a certain thing and you just thought ..."I don't think so."

One of my 'I call BS' moments came when my college advisor told me not to go into journalism because "there aren't any jobs." Clearly, I didn't follow his recommendation to go to law school instead.

A few days ago, I asked a group about their 'I call BS' career moments, and here's what they had to share:

I also had a less than supportive college professor tell me I had no future in digital media! I turned that into fuel for my fire.

One piece of bullshit advice I got was the only way I thought I could advance at my last newspaper job ... was to move onto the copy desk. I was a horrible copy editor!  A year later, Patch launched and I was able to lean into the digital side going forward for the rest of my career.

I was asked to become a 'manager' of the social-media share buttons ... just as mobile devices took over audiences. It was a 'role worth staying for'  bullshit counter to an offer I had. I left more quickly.

What do these BS moments show (besides that some advice is truly terrible)? Sometimes your inner guide knows best. We've all faced down people and places that wanted us to think we weren't good enough, or strong enough, or valuable enough. But I bet you've also had the opportunity to listen to your inner BS detector, and maybe even defy their expectations.

You, Navigator, are a resilient adapter to an ever-changing marketplace. You can figure out what comes next, just like you've figured it out every time before. And anyone who tells you different – I call bullshit.

Happy navigating,
Bridget

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