Hangin’ In
There is a lot of academic research indicating that career success is closely correlated with resilience. My own observation comports with those findings. The ability to keep coming back after setbacks is a major component of career success, and probably success in the rest of life’s endeavors as well. Horatio Alger labeled it “pluck and luck”. As passe as Horatio may be, he was on to something. Luck certainly plays a role in all facets of life, but those who hang in there are in better position to take advantage of luck if and when it arrives.
Resilient individuals are prepared to experiment and tolerate the risk of failure. Experimentation is almost the sole source of progress in knowledge and organizational execution. Failure is a reliable teacher; we seldom learn much from success. Success often fools us.
It is possible to argue that all capitalist endeavor is about experimentation/failure. As a business owner, you try something. If it fails, you try something different. If it works, you keep doing it until it quits working. The story of many business failures is the unwillingness to change in the face of changing circumstances. We have a tendency to keep doing what worked long after it quit working. A related phenomenon is assuming that success is transferable, because success has convinced us that we know what we are doing. Successful people often plunge into a new field in a big way, because they think that their success in one endeavor guarantees success in another. Instead of entering slowly, seeking expertise from those already in the space, and assuming that a “stupid tax” will not have to be paid, they rush right over the cliff of ignorance, often bankrupting themselves. In the days of rampant real estate syndication (before the ’86 tax overhaul), the standard targets were doctors, lawyers and airline pilots. They had pockets full of money and heads full of confidence in their own judgment.
Unfortunately, we don’t apply these two lessons very well. We don’t ask our children to work to contribute to their support. Kids don’t work their way through college, they borrow their way through. We do everything possible to shield them from adversity. All kids in the race get a medal (so their self esteem is not traumatized). The Democratic Socialists would like to give them free college, free health care and a guaranteed income. Young people flock to this message. After graduation, harsh reality sets in for many. The standard model in our private sector organizations is the blow torch on the butt, fire extinguisher on nose motivational paradigm: Go, go, go, but don’t screw up. Governmental organizations leave out the go, go part. The safest path to a happy retirement check is never to say “yes” if it might lead to failure. In the event failure does occur, the scapegoat is found and elaborate rules are written to be sure we don’t make THAT mistake again (as if those circumstances will ever be exactly replicated). Bureaucratic success consists in never being the scapegoat.
Insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result; progress can be defined as trying something new to see if it works. If it doesn’t work, the appropriate response should be NICE TRY. Let’s pick ourselves up and try some more. The first agenda item is to analyze the mistake to extract the lesson. Why didn’t it work? Is there a modification to the plan that could have improved the outcome? Is the flaw sufficiently basic as to suggest a completely different course of action? Would the experiment have worked in a different environment? At the end of every such study should be a reminder that successful practices need to be continually reexamined in light of changing circumstances.
The summary is that our child rearing practices, our educational system, our bureaucracies and our business organizations should change. We should encourage experimentation. We should tell our kids that it’s OK to come in last and acknowledge that they aren’t going to get a track scholarship. The “D” and “F” need to reappear on transcripts. We should tolerate well intentioned mistakes and celebrate those willing to take a chance. We should focus on lessons learned. We should celebrate those who fell and got up to run again.
