By Joe Byerly
Danny Ricker writes jokes for a living. As one of Jimmy Kimmel’s head writers, he leads a team that churns out pages of material every day—most of which never makes it on air. But behind the punchlines is a mindset that applies far beyond late-night TV.
Regardless of whether you are pitching late night sketches, writing military orders, or selling products in the corporate world, the one thing all of us have in common is that we’re human, with egos, emotions, and expectations. And while the stakes are higher in some life endeavors than others, we all wrestle with rejection, uncertainty, and the temptation to take things personally.
Danny’s approach is built on emotional discipline, humility, and perspective—qualities that matter whether you’re in a war room or a writers’ room.
These are the lessons that stuck with me from our recent conversation:
1. Don’t take it personally
When Danny and his team wrote for Jimmy Kimmel’s Oscars monologue, they spent months on it—hundreds of hours, thousands of jokes—only to see most of it cut to fit a 15-minute window. He said:
“We write thousands of jokes,” he recalls. “But maybe only 30 will make it into the monologue.”
Not every great idea makes it to the stage or gets picked by the boss. And that’s not a reflection of talent or value—it’s just part of the job. It’s the price of doing business.
I can’t tell you how many things I worked on in my military career that never saw the light of day. And yeah, that sucks. But rejection is inevitable. Your worth isn’t determined by what gets picked. It’s defined by how you keep showing up.
Which leads to Danny’s next lesson:
2. You can’t control the outcome—only the work
Five days a week, Danny and his team write for Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“We can’t control whether he says it,” he explains. “We can’t control if the audience laughs at it. We can control how hard we are working on our material, honing our craft. And so the only part we can control is what’s on your laptop screen in the morning while you’re writing. Once it gets emailed away, you can’t focus too much on that part of it.”
It’s real easy to obsess over the external: Will the boss like this? Will I get the promotion? Will my idea land with the group? But those questions only distract us from what actually matters: your effort.
Early in my military career, I obsessed over promotions, awards, and recognition. I thought that if I put in 70-hour workweeks, it would all pay off. But I learned—sometimes the hard way—that the fruits of our labor don’t belong to us. They’re never guaranteed. You can do everything “right” and still not get the outcome you think you deserve.
Working for outcomes is a recipe for disappointment and resentment.
Like Danny, we need to find fulfillment in the work itself. That’s the part we own. That’s where the reward really lives.
When we focus on the work instead of the outcome, we bring our whole selves to the task—instead of a divided mind chasing validation.
3. Feedback is only data
Even when a joke makes it into the show, it doesn’t always land. Sometimes the audience doesn’t laugh as hard as Jimmy or the writers expected.
Danny says, “If you have something that bombs, learn from that and go, okay, why did that bomb? What happened there?”
That’s the mindset: don’t take it personally—study it.
Feedback, whether it is positive or negative, is a gift. It’s easy to get addicted to praise because it feels like validation. But neither praise nor criticism should define us. They’re just information—raw inputs we can use to get better at our craft, our leadership, our work.
4. Don’t be easy, be great
When people ask Danny if Jimmy Kimmel is an easy guy to work for, his answer is honest.
“No. I love him. He’s a great guy to work for. But he’s not an easy guy to work for,” he admits.
And that’s the point.
Jimmy holds himself to an incredibly high standard—and that standard sets the tone for the whole team.
“We know we’re doing a comedy show every night,” Danny says. “But it’s what we do—and we’re passionate about making it as good as it can be.”
A lot of people struggle with this lesson. They want to be liked, so they lower the standards to earn validation. But in doing so, they miss the mark.
The best military leaders I worked for—like Jimmy—weren’t easy, but they were great. They set a high bar and quietly encouraged everyone around them to meet it. Not by yelling. Not by talking down to people. But by expecting a lot—because they expected a lot of themselves.
And that brings us to the final lesson:
5. Lead by example
As head writer, Danny doesn’t have to keep writing every morning. He has plenty of other duties—meetings, production decisions, spreadsheets. But, he still shows up to write every single day.
Asked why, Danny’s face lights up.
“One is I really like doing it. Two is I don’t want my skills to atrophy. And three—I want the younger writers on the show to see that the people in charge are still getting up when it’s dark to write jokes.”
And it’s not just Danny. Often when he wakes up, Jimmy has already been at it—or stayed up late—doing the same thing for the same reason.
“It’s hard to slack off when your boss is working harder than everyone,” Danny says. “When I’m ending my day, Jimmy’s stepping onto the stage to do the hardest part of his.”
It’s easy to demand excellence from others. It’s much harder to model it ourselves—day after day. But when we do, it inspires the people around us to raise their own standards.So while you and I will most likely never find ourselves in the writers’ room with Jimmy and Danny, the lessons they live by still apply to the jobs we do have. Whether you’re leading a team, raising a family, or working behind the scenes—don’t take it personally, treat feedback as data, focus on the work, don’t be easy, and lead by example.
Listen to my entire interview with Danny where we discuss parenting and his new book Wow, You Look Terrible! How to Parent More and Live Less. Episode drops Saturday!
Danny Ricker is an Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and author who currently serves as a Head Writer and Co-Executive Producer at Jimmy Kimmel Live. His other notable writing credits include The Oscars (2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024), The Primetime Emmys (2012, 2016, and 2020), the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, guest columns in The Hollywood Reporter and Men’s Health Magazine, as well as commercial work for Disney, Hulu, Google, Mint Mobile, Walmart, and Lucasfilm. His debut book, Wow, You Look Terrible!, is available now from Hyperion Avenue.
Joe Byerly is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 20 years of service, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and command of a cavalry squadron in Europe. He earned numerous prestigious awards, including multiple Legion of Merits, Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, and General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. In 2013, Joe founded From the Green Notebook.
A passionate advocate for self-knowledge through reading and reflection, he authored The Leader’s 90-Day Notebook and co-authored My Green Notebook: “Know Thyself” Before Changing Jobs, a resource for leaders seeking greater self-awareness. If this post resonated with you or sparked any questions, feel free to reach out to him at Joe@fromthegreennotebook.com.
