I think
it's fun to be a tight-rope walker. Walking a tight-rope provides
perpetual challenge. This is important. I'm sure we have all heard
about the “mid-life crisis” and the “burnout” that people
experience. Peter Drucker would say this is a subject that is widely
misunderstood.
According
to Drucker, the mid-life crisis is really just boredom. It occurs
when a person has reached the pinnacle of their profession. This
person has mastered his or her craft and has little else to learn. A
key element of engagement is learning. When a person stops learning
they tend to disengage.
We see
this everywhere, from reality shows, to our significant others. When
we are learning new things, about our significant other, we tend to
be more engaged. Obviously, this happens most in the beginning of the
relationship. However, when we start to finish their sentences, we
can get bored. For this reason it is usually advisable for couples to
make the effort to discover and learn new things. The process of
discovery is very engaging.
The same
phenomenon seems to occur with reality shows. The first season can be
great because we are learning about the cast members. The second
season might be entertaining as well, as we further peel back the
onion. But, usually, reality shows tend to jump the shark in their
third season. By this time we have essentially learned all we need to
know. We become bored. This is when the producers grab hold of the
story and start to engineer the plot. Things become visibly contrived
because most reality stars are not very good actors. Thus, the
scripting really starts to show through.
At any
rate, back to boredom. A big part of the reason I am so enamored with
paradoxes is the simple fact that they are endlessly entertaining. I
just don't seem to ever get bored discovering a paradox. That said, I
want to talk a little about Ralph Lauren, the fashion designer.
Talking
about his craft, Lauren once said, “It is important to preserve
your lineage and tradition in your line, but the world changes around
you and you have to stay with it.” The challenge for Lauren, and
all of us, is to preserve the past while simultaneously embracing the
future. Not at an easy thing to do. The key is to always be learning
and studying. Lauren is a man of profound knowledge. And, I believe,
it is this knowledge, and insight, that has kept him on top for so
long. Lauren always has something new to learn. He does not appear to
be bored.
Lauren's
situation is a delicate balancing act. Not unlike walking a tight
rope. The question is this. How do we preserve the past while
simultaneously evolving into the future? I think it's a brilliant
question. I believe the question provides us an excellent riddle.
And, ultimately, this riddle is unsolvable. But the point of the
riddle is to be answered and not solved. Ha! Answered but not solved?
That alone is a riddle. What it means is that there is no final
answer on how we preserve the past while simultaneously evolving into
the future. The answer itself is an ever-evolving one.
Speaking
of questions that are meant to be answered over and over again, check
out this post: How about you?
Ok. Let
me try to tie this thing together because I have jumped all over the
place. What am I saying? I am saying human beings are designed to be
learning machines. We experience positive affect (joy) when we learn
new things. For this reason I believe it is a very good idea to be a
lifelong student. Be honest, you enjoy learning new things, don't
you? Even if it's just the latest gossip, we love learning. So, the
question then becomes, what should we be studying? Well, that's for
you to figure out.
One
option is to study all sorts of different subjects. To some extent,
that works. Knowing a little bit about a lot of things can be
fulfilling. The problem is that humans are also designed to make
progress. We are engineered to achieve. How do I know that? Because,
just like how we enjoy learning new things, we also experience joy
when we accomplish our goals. And, the bigger the goal, the greater
the joy. So, if we hope to also cash-in on the joy of big achievement
we will need to stick with a one subject long enough to win.
Ralph
Lauren scaled to great heights because he stuck to the knitting. He
started his company in 1967 and he stuck with it. To stave off
boredom he kept on learning. And, if you don't go for breadth of
knowledge, you must go for depth. Lauren developed deep and profound
knowledge. A key element to massive achievement.
This is
where the paradox enters the scene. It is nearly impossible to dive
into deep knowledge without encountering numerous paradoxes. What
Lauren discovered was that he needed to preserve his uniqueness style
while also staying with the spirit of the times. This is the
fundamental paradox that all great fashion designers must solve. How
do you simultaneously follow and lead? What a delicious pisser.
So, what
is your paradox?
