Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux - Is It Better to Be a Star or an Extra?
Aired: 2025-08-01
Duration: 03:52


=== Stars and Extras (01:52) ===

[00:00:00]  So when you go see a movie, right?
[00:00:02]  I went to go see Superman because I'm a sucker for Superman movies, God help me, because of Clark Kent as played by Christopher Reese back in the day.
[00:00:08]  I love that movie.
[00:00:10]  So in the movie or Godzilla movies or whatever, there's the star, right?
[00:00:15]  Whether it's Godzilla or Clark Kent or Superman or something like that.
[00:00:19]  And then there's a whole bunch of people running and screaming in the background, right?
[00:00:21]  The city's getting wrecked and they're all running down the street.
[00:00:24]  You've seen those kinds of movies, right?
[00:00:27]  Right.
[00:00:28]  You have, right?
[00:00:29]  Okay.
[00:00:30]  So if you are the movie producer, is it easier to replace one of the extras or to replace the star?
[00:00:42]  Yeah, the extras, who cares, right?
[00:00:44]  It's just some guy in the background.
[00:00:45]  And, you know, if he stumbles and falls and breaks his ankle or whatever, you just say, you know, get me another extra and put him in the same hand.
[00:00:53]  I'm sorry.
[00:00:54]  When the company is bigger, it will have multiple stars.
[00:00:58]  So be one of those stars.
[00:01:00]  What I'm saying is don't be a back.
[00:01:01]  Yeah, you don't be a background.
[00:01:03]  Go ahead.
[00:01:04]  There'll be so many stars that at least one of them will be disposable eventually.
[00:01:11]  There'll be so many stars that you can.
[00:01:13]  Okay, so you're a yes-but guy.
[00:01:14]  So let me ask you, let me ask you this.
[00:01:16]  If the company wants to cut its employees, is it better to be a star or one of the extras?
[00:01:25]  The star.
[00:01:26]  So why are you fighting me on this?
[00:01:28]  Well, there'll be so many stars that even.
[00:01:31]  Is it better to be a star or an extra?
[00:01:36]  It's better to be a star.
[00:01:37]  So be a star.
[00:01:38]  Does that mean you're invulnerable?
[00:01:40]  No.
[00:01:41]  Even Superman has kryptonite.
[00:01:42]  If the entire country, sorry, if the entire company gets hit by an asteroid, yes, you're going to be dead.
[00:01:47]  Or if the entire company goes completely tits up and run style.

=== Keep Documentation: It's Essential (02:00) ===

[00:01:52]  But even then, if you have, you have to keep documentation, right?
[00:01:57]  This is really, really, really important.
[00:01:59]  Your boss isn't going to know how productive you are.
[00:02:02]  You need to document it.
[00:02:03]  You need to document it and you need to tell him, right?
[00:02:07]  I finished this.
[00:02:08]  You said it was booked to take a week.
[00:02:11]  I did it in a day.
[00:02:12]  Just wanted to let you know for when my performance review comes around.
[00:02:14]  Keep stuff documented.
[00:02:15]  Now, the great thing about that is, let's say the entire company, for some reason, fires all of its stars, keeps all the extras, fires all of its stars.
[00:02:23]  You have the documentation to prove to some new employer that you're a star.
[00:02:28]  So aim to be massively productive.
[00:02:30]  Of course, it doesn't make you bulletproof, but I mean, nobody's bulletproof, but it gives you your best chance for having leverage in the company.
[00:02:36]  You still need contingency.
[00:02:38]  I'm sorry?
[00:02:39]  You still need contingency for in case it goes bad.
[00:02:44]  What do you mean?
[00:02:44]  Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean.
[00:02:46]  The documentation is contingency.
[00:02:48]  For in case you get fired, you have proof that you're doing really well.
[00:02:53]  Well, no, it's not.
[00:02:54]  I said, it's not just contingency.
[00:02:56]  It's also, no, it's not just a backup plan.
[00:02:59]  It's useful for that.
[00:03:00]  But primarily, you want to keep documentation so that you can sit down with your boss and say, well, on this project, it was booked to take a week.
[00:03:08]  It took me a day.
[00:03:09]  This was supposed to take two weeks.
[00:03:10]  It took me only one week.
[00:03:11]  And you keep them informed about these things going forward.
[00:03:14]  And so you have to make your boss, like, do not hide your light under a bushel as an engineer or anyone.
[00:03:19]  You have to let your boss know how valuable you are on a continual basis.
[00:03:24]  And that way you have leverage over him because if he doesn't even know how productive you are, then it's going to be very tough to have leverage with him.
[00:03:31]  And that gives you negotiation leverage, right, when it comes to raises or what you want to do.
[00:03:37]  Because I'll tell you, man, I mean, as a manager, I knew exactly who the stars were and I would do anything for them.
[00:03:43]  I would do anything to keep them.
[00:03:45]  And I would like obsessively ask them, you know, every couple of weeks, hey, are you happy?
[00:03:48]  Are you enjoying what you're doing?
[00:03:50]  Is there anything I could do differently?
[00:03:51]  Anything you want to change?