Find your yellow tux

I am not a fan of baseball and I will not be wearing a yellow tuxedo.

However I have just finished reading Jesse Cole’s Find Your Yellow Tux and it was a fun read. The author recounts how he took over a baseball team and turned it into an amazing spectacle that has a huge waiting list by focusing on “fans first”.

It is essentially a manifesto on why we should reject “normal” to achieve success. As the owner of the Savannah Bananas, he argues that the key to a lasting legacy is finding your “Yellow Tux” - an amplified, best version of yourself that stands out in a crowded market.

Here is a breakdown of the core philosophies from the book and how they might apply to the way we think about our work and lives:

Defining Your “Yellow Tux”

Finding your Yellow Tux isn’t really about what you wear, it is about identifying how to be different.

• Be Your Best Self: It’s not about trying to be someone else, but rather turning your own personality “up to ten”.
• Focus on Strengths: Instead of trying to be well-rounded, double down on your unique strengths.
• The Saturday Morning Test: To find your true passion, ask yourself what you would do on a Saturday morning if you had absolutely no obligations.

The “Screw Normal” Philosophy

He proposes that “professional is boring” and that playing it safe is often the quickest way to fail.

• Do the Opposite: If a practice is standard in your industry, try doing the exact opposite. This is often the best way to gain attention and provide better solutions.
• Blue Ocean Strategy: Stop competing on everyone else’s terms. When you are truly different, you create a “blue ocean” where you effectively have no competition.
• Question Tradition: “It’s always been done that way” is a dangerous mindset. If you can do it better, then do it better.

We regularly change our approach to the way we do things. This could be in terms of frequency of meetings, the format of meetings, the tools we use - always looking for what works best as opposed to what always worked.

Cultivating an Innovation Mindset

Success requires a willingness to look foolish and a high tolerance for failure.

• The Idea Box: He suggests keeping an “idea box” to store every “crazy” thought. During what he calls “Ideapalooza,” these ideas are vetted based on whether they are different, not just whether they are “good”.
• Embrace “Bad” Ideas: When someone calls an idea “the worst,” he suggests leaning into it to see if there is a hidden gem of uniqueness there.
• Self-Awareness: Growth starts with the honesty to admit what you are not good at, which allows you to hire people who can fill those gaps.

I don’t naturally like to look foolish, in fact when I was younger it was probably my kryptonite that held me back. Now I am not afraid to ask the dumb questions and I am much more aligned with Richard Feynman’s thinking about “What do you care what other people think?”

Prioritizing Significance Over Success

A recurring theme throughout the book is that true fulfilment comes from the impact you have on others.

• Fans First Way: He operates by a set of “commandments”: Always Be Caring, Different, Enthusiastic, Fun, Growing, and Hungry.
• Significance vs. Success: Success is personal gain, while significance is the impact you leave on others. Business should focus on how to “make more for others” rather than just for yourself.
• Reverse Engineer Your Life: Start with the end in mind. Picture a fulfilling life and a lasting legacy, then work backward to determine the steps needed to get there.

I really like the differentiation between success and significance. It is a little bit like the servant leadership approach where the focus is on helping and making those around you better.

You don’t need to like baseball, you don’t need to go out and buy a new multi-coloured wardrobe, but if you want a nudge to think differently then I recommend this book.