Brian RumaoFebruary 3, 2026
For the best results with your children, spend only half the money you think you should, but double the time with them.
Kevin Kelly
There’s a trope when someone leaves their role at a company to claim they are irreplaceable. So talented, so unique, so valuable, that they are truly singular and cannot be replaced by anyone else. But something I have learned is that at work, we’re all replaceable. At home, much less so.
Unless you’re Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, or maybe a handful of other visionary leaders, you too are fungible. It’s not personal — I don’t know you after all — but I’ve seen it. People leave, organizations adapt. Companies have a self-healing mechanism, and any hole that’s left is summarily filled over time. In many cases, for the better. This applies whether you’re the CEO or the individual contributor. It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry to bruise your ego.
At home, this is different. My kids only have one mother and one father. I feel more irreplaceable here than anywhere else. Why? Because I know I have gifts to impart to my children, through my words and through my deeds. Gifts that I’d like to believe only I can deliver. This is why a juggling analogy fits: rubber balls are work, friends, hobbies; glass balls are health, family. If you drop the the rubber ones, they will bounce back. But the glass ones never bounce. And some gifts, if not given by you, may never be given at all.