All in Aspirations
Every so often, we see it.
That guy who worked in finance, then decided to leap into the world of books and online retailing, to start a successful enterprise.
Or that gal who went into the flower business -despite having no prior industry knowledge - and created a profitable, growing business in just a couple of years.
Sometimes, the goals we set for ourselves are overwhelming. The bigger the goal or the more challenging the objective, the harder it can be to fathom how we will get there.
We get caught up in the sheer scale of our idea, or we start setting all sorts of impossible timelines and expectations that we think we need to achieve on our path there.
When I got into consulting in the mid-nineties, I did so with the expectation that I was going into a field that was focused on driving change. That we were there to make a difference, and to improve the lot of our clients. And that doing so required people who were committed to that process, both within the firm I worked for and at the client. Generally speaking, that expectation proved to be the reality.
…Is that there really isn’t any such thing.
In popularity contests of any significance (where a sizable population is asked for its endorsement of an individual or a subject or an action), the landslide win is not a common occurrence. More prevalent (in my admittedly unscientific assessment) is the close race, where the margin of victory is in single digit percentage points.
I love guitars.
I especially love guitars that are handcrafted and expertly finished. Guitars that are works of art, that use the best materials, the best pickups, the best strings. When I play guitars like these, I feel as if they improve my dexterity, my creativity and my tone. I feel as if the music I produce immediately improves. They make me a better musician.
We have this obsession, usually rightly so, with organized, accredited education. In an era when economic disparity and the income gap is at its widest, getting a “proper education” isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.
Which is something most of us agree on, plus the fact that a proper education is defined as not simply completing high school, but obtaining a college degree, at minimum. I think I’m on pretty safe ground when I say that.
Think of the most exciting job you’ve done, the best initiative you’ve been part of, the most rewarding experience you’ve had. What was the underlying basis of that experience, the focus of the leadership in that situation? Were you excited? Were you focused on moving towards something? Were you inspired?
There are at least 15 colleges that deserve a place in the top 10 best colleges in the country. There are 20 restaurants that can credibly argue that they are one of the 5 best restaurants in your city. And if you and I were so inclined, we could absolutely name 25 guitarists who could reasonably stake a claim to being among the 10 best guitarists ever.
When we’re evaluating options that involve other people’s decisions, for example, a competitor’s next move or an employee’s decision to stay or leave, we can either guess or we can anticipate.
There’s a big difference between the two.
In school, we’re taught a range of different subjects - from history to math to science to art to music to physical education. We’re tested, judged and evaluated on our proficiency in each of these disciplines, and by the end of it, given a numerical average of our performance across all of these areas, otherwise known as our Grade Point Average (GPA).
When I left consulting about a decade and a half ago, I went from an environment where I had plenty of support structures and resources at my disposal, to what was essentially me, a laptop and a desk in my home office.
It was a massive shift, and one that required me to rethink what I focused on and how I got things done.
Change is scary.
There’s a comfort in stability, in consistency, in predictability. I know what to do, where to go, how to do it. There are no unforeseen circumstances, no surprises for me to react to, and as a result, my heart rate and blood pressure stays constant and manageable.
We tend to romanticize the path to success. We maintain this perception that getting there was a straight-forward path. Particularly when we see others achieve it. This view that these folks took step 1, then step 2, and so on and so forth, until they achieved what they set out to do. That it was a clean path. That things just happened for them.
The truth is…
There's a cynicism we tend to have when it comes to advertising and branding.
So many brands adopt personas based on their desire to attract a certain type of consumer. These personas are fashioned on the basis of deep consumer research, canvassing their likes, dislikes, tastes, preferences and more. Some of these personas succeed, others don't.
It's natural. We start a new project or new initiative and we get excited, as we should be. We see the potential for change, the potential impact and we want to make sure it's a success.
So we plan. We think through our goals, all the needs and requirements, where we need to get to. We identify the piece parts needed to make for our definition of success, because…
A few years ago, Professor Jens Krause at the University of Leeds conducted numerous experiments where he and his team asked groups of people to walk randomly around a large hall. Unbeknownst to the majority, a few individuals were given specific instructions as to where they should walk. No one in the group (informed or otherwise) was allowed to communicate (verbal or non-verbally) and everyone had to stay within arms length of each other.
I think all too often we tend to overcomplicate our choices. Particularly, when we're trying to decide whether we should do something or not, as it comes to our work.
A new project. A new role. A new job.
And just like that, another year has passed. What started out as a personal test of my ability to consistently pen down my thoughts and perspectives has now completed its second year.
As I said when I started, my goal has been to simply write - and to do so consistently. I wasn't going to worry about the specific focus, or subject matter, I would just do.
There are times when persistence, dedication, devotion are absolutely essential. Nothing great has ever been achieved by flitting from one activity to another, without considered thought for quality, without regard for tangible results. Success - however you define it - depends on this.
But to persist in situations that don't align with your inherent values, that don't feel right in that regard, is a recipe for failure.
As I wrote in my post on Monday, it's all about the team. No matter who or how many stars you have, their success - our success - depends predominantly on the ability of team to deliver as a cohesive unit.
But there is a critical lesson for all us in the mentality, the mindset of the star performer.
