Yes Theory: Throw Your Bag Over The Fence

The YouTube stars Yes Theory have pulled off some amazing feats. Between bungee jumping from a helicopter with Will Smith on his 50th birthday, punking the world with a fake “Justin Bieber eating a burrito sideways” picture, and a deeply emotional story of familial separation over cultural norms – these young men are leaving an impact on the world in their own way. In a recent interview with Cal Fussman, they discussed the cornerstone to their approach towards life. They call it a “throw your bag over the fence” attitude.

When on the road, if you throw your travel bag full of your only possessions over a fence, you have left yourself with no choice but to follow. When the bag is in hand, we still have options. When the bag is in hand, we have protective incentives to hold it tightly. Once we’re separated from the bag – especially by a fence, the nature of our options and incentives take a dramatic turn. For Yes Theory, that’s how they say yes to so many brazen activities. For the rest of us, it’s a reminder to commit to the things we want to do in full. 

Whether it’s a new marketing strategy or some other tactic we want to explore, there comes a point where we just have to throw our bag over the fence and go for it. The same goes for our clients – sometimes they need help to commit to a big decision. There are lots of things we usually don’t get to do more than a few times in our lives (buy a house, get married, retire, etc.), but each of them requires a final commitment to accept whatever comes next. We don’t have to throw the bag for them, but we can offer the words of encouragement that say “let’s do this” and “it’ll be OK, I’m right behind you.”

If it doesn’t work out (and it doesn’t always work out), we can throw our bag back over the fence and return. That’s not ideal, but it’s survivable. True professionals help people to understand that these options exist too. With all risks come downside, and our adeptness at handling those situations as well matters greatly. We have to communicate that experience with confidence. This is the benefit of having us along for the trip as their guide.

The Yes Theory guys serve a reminder that we can’t fear experimentation or allow it to hold us back. Ultimately, success requires creativity. As Ben Hunt has been writing about lately, the worst failure is one that arises from a lack of imagination. The Yes Theory crew certainly does not suffer from a lack of imagination, and nor should we. Throw the bag over the fence and get after it already.