Pursuing Perfection

Last week we asked the question of whether success is a journey or a destination. The best answer is that it is both.

In last week's post I mentioned a Stanford psychologist by the name of Carol Dweck. Dweck's work has been getting a lot of attention lately.

Allow me to take a minute and connect Dweck's work with the work of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. I mentioned the work, of Deci and Ryan, in a post a few weeks ago. If you are unfamiliar, click here to read the post.

Extrinsic motivation seems to be the most common form of motivation. The extrinsic things that motivate include houses, cars, diamonds and parking spots. That said, intrinsic motivation is more powerful.

Deci and Ryan created Self-Determination Theory which speaks of three forms in intrinsic motivation. There are: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Now it is time to bring in Drucker. Drucker advised that we always strive for excellence. The main reason to strive for excellence is psychological.

Drucker knew that getting good at what we do delivered huge psyche rewards. We are not simply talking of competence. We are talking of competence on steroids. It is highly rewarding.

So, Drucker would say to strive for excellence. The Japanese would call it “Kaizen.” Deci and Ryan use the word competence. And, Dweck recommends we keep on growing. However you wish to conceptualize the idea, it is important that we be lifelong learners committed to continual improvement.

To drive home the importance, of always striving for excellence, Drucker would tell the story of Phidias, the ancient Greek sculptor. I will finish this post with the words of Drucker, taken from his book The Daily Drucker.

“The greatest sculptor of ancient Greece, Phidias, around 440 BC made the statues that to this day, 2,400 years later, still stand on the roof of the Parthenon in Athens. When Phidias submitted his bill, the city accountant of Athens refused to pay it. 'These statues stand on the roof of the temple, and on the highest hill in Athens. Nobody can see anything but their fronts. Yet, you have charged us for sculpting them in the round, that is, for doing their backsides, which nobody can see.' 'You are wrong.' Phidias retorted. 'The Gods can see them.'

“Whenever people ask me which of my books I consider the best, I smile and say, 'The next.' I do not, however, mean it as a joke. I mean it the way Verdi meant it when he talked of writing an opera at eighty in the pursuit of a perfection that had always eluded him. Though I am older now than Verdi was when he wrote Falstaff, I am still thinking and working on two additional books, each of which, I hope, will be better than any of my earlier ones, will be more important, and will come a little closer to excellence.

“Action Point: Pursue perfection in your work, however elusive.”

Journey or Destination?

How many times have we heard the journey versus destination question? A million times, right? Is success a journey or a destination?

To be blunt, this is something of a juvenile question. Success is both a journey and a destination. We need to embrace the genius of “and.”

It should come as a surprise to no one, but, over the last couple of weeks I have mentioned Peter Drucker. He really is the best. So, let us continue in the legacy of Drucker. But, we will add some more contemporary clarity.

Here is the issue, in life, growth is the imperative. The way Drucker puts it is that we want to always be striving for excellence.

A big part of the problem is that growth, and improvement, require that we make mistakes and have failures. You see, striving for excellence can cause a person it avoid taking any risks.

Some people will only do those things that they are good at. They avoid taking chances. This makes them feel better, in the moment, but it backfires as a long-term strategy.

How might we square this circle? Being successful makes us feel good today. But, it can set us up for failure tomorrow. Success today can create complacency tomorrow.

To combat complacency, Andy Grove recommends fear. Specifically, he uses the word paranoia. Grove's advice has merit, but it requires subtly and nuance.

You see, the famed organizational theorist, W Edwards Deming, would say that fear must be driven out of your business system. So, we have something of a conflict.

On the one hand, we need to drive out fear, so people feel safe and willing to experiment. On the other hand, we need to scare people out of complacency. It is something of a conundrum.

One simple solution is the work of Carol Dweck. Dweck is a professor, at Stanford, and her work has been making a lot of waves in recent years. Click here to read a report I wrote about her book Mindset.

As you can see, in that report, Professor Dweck talks about the growth mindset versus the fixed mindset. The fixed mindset says that our abilities are set in stone. And, the growth mindset believes a persons' abilities can be developed.

As it turns out, what you believe to be true becomes your reality. Self-fulfilling prophecies are very real. It is that thing people quote Henry Ford as saying, “Whether you think you can, or think you can't–you're right.” The idea is a little over-simplified, but, the point is well-taken.

Back to Drucker, to tie this whole thing together. Drucker would say that we enjoy two things about our jobs: improvement and results. Can you see how Drucker would agree with me on this post?

The journey is about improvement, and it can be very enjoyable. The results are the destination. And, I do not have to tell you how people yearn for good results.

Day-to-day we need to embrace the journey. We when need to stay focused on improvement. That is to say, we need to leverage the growth mindset and the progress principle. And then, once in while, we need to step back and admire our good work. We need to revel in the results. But, not for too long.

(Deliberate) Practice

Last week, as I often do, I mentioned Peter Drucker. Forever, there has been this war between science and art. That is to say, when it comes to things like business, people debate whether it is a science or an art.

I think the debate is silly. Business is not just a science and it is not just an art. Business can be both an art and a science. It all depends on the skills you choose to bring to bear.

Drucker would say that business is about practice. That might sound kind of weird coming from the man of invented the "science" of management. Actually, though Drucker codified the principles of management, he did not view management as a science.

Drucker said that business deals with people. As such, management (business) belongs in the humanities, which makes it a science. However, due to its wide-ranging nature, Drucker saw business as a liberal art. In all, to Peter's way of thinking, management is really a practice. Hence the name of his book.

Let me ask you this, have you ever known someone is all talk and no action? Do you know anybody with great potential but it does not translate into performance? Have you ever asked yourself why that is?

Drucker said the only thing that closes the gap between potential and performance, is practice. However, practice is something of a taboo subject.

Sure, children are supposed to practice. I mean, we all know the joke about practice being the way to Carnegie Hall. But, adults, adults have already learned skills. Adults do not need to practice. Do they?

Fortunately, these days there is a lot of talk about the subject of practice. Especially, now that we are in the age of information. Because the age of information has led to the need for knowledge workers (a phrase coined by Drucker himself.)

"Training" seems to be the more adult word that we use. However, when you think about it, training is a form of practicing. 

Having died in 2005, I do not know how well Drucker knew the work of Anders Ericsson. Professor Ericsson is down at Florida State University, and he is considered the world's leading expert on experts.

Ericsson has only written academic work. I do not know of a mass-produced book written by Anders. But, that is okay. As it turns out, one thing the world's expert performers all have in common is that they practice. A lot.

As mundane as it may sound, there is a direct correlation between amount of practice and level of performance. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Indeed, as I have mentioned, Drucker put it in the title of his 1954 book.

The thing I want to mention, today, is that not all practice is created equal. Doing something, over and over, hoping to get better, is one form of practice. However, Professor Ericsson has identified another form of practice. Something he calls "Deliberate Practice."

Deliberate practice is about stretching yourself and your skills. For this reason, it is hard work. It is not comfortable. Because, like we have all heard, success lies outside your comfort zone.

In order that you might engineer more deliberate practice into your day, here are the six elements of deliberate practice:

1. It is designed to improve performance

2. It is repeated a lot

3. Feedback on results is continuously available

4. It is highly demanding mentally

5. It is hard

6. It requires (good) goals

One thing Peter Drucker was dogmatic about was that jobs/work must allow the worker to achieve. Drucker would counsel each of us to always strive for excellence. The main benefits of striving for excellence were psychological. And, Drucker knew it.

Excellence can be different from expertise. Whereas expertise is a comparative judgment, personal excellence is more about becoming all that you can be. It is competing with yourself. And, whether you want to be world-class, or simply the best You, practice is the way you get there.

Deeper and More Clear

As the name says, this blog is about effectiveness and entrepreneurship. To my way of thinking, the two things are inextricably woven together.

Effectiveness was Peter Drucker's word. People would wonder whether business is an art or a science. Drucker thought it was neither. He said business is a practice.

Drucker would say that business is something you keep doing and you get better over time. In this way, it is both a science and an art.

That is not to say Drucker only advocated only for trial-and-error. Quite the contrary, he was a strong advocate for learning from other people. Specifically, he said we must learn from what people do right, not what they do wrong.

One thing that people have done well is Self-Determination Theory, a theory of motivation. I am sure you would agree that no one can sustain effectiveness without motivation. But, motivation is tricky. It is virtually impossible to motivate another human being.

We might be able to motivate others for a short time. But, sustained motivation is an inside job. For this reason it is probably wise to point people to quality resources that will facilitate their ability to self-motivate and self-development.

Two weeks ago I discussed Self-Determination Theory. This most beautiful theory was was created by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. If you read the post you can see that Self-Determination Theory contains an inherent paradox. So, last week, I offered a possible resolution.

This week I would like to add on another layer of delicious complexity. Self-Determination Theory is about two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. This is a very hot topic these days.

The question becomes, which is more powerful, intrinsic or extrinsic motivation? The short answer is that intrinsic motivation is more powerful. However, life is never so simple.

In resolving paradoxes we learn to embrace the genius of “and.” Applied to Self-Determination Theory, we learn that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are not mutually exclusive. In fact, there exists a rather autonomous state of extrinsic motivation that Deci and Ryan called, “Integrated Regulation.”

As a matter of fact, integrated regulation is the state of external goals being melded into the self. That is kind of a weird thing to say, so let me give you an example.

The same goal can be conceived as intrinsically motivating or extrinsically motivating. Let us take the example of painting a picture.

A person could spend their whole life painting pictures so that one day the world would recognize them as a great artist. Such a goal is extrinsically motivating. Striving for wealth, fame, admiration, etc. is the essence of extrinsic motivation.

However, the goal of painting beautiful canvases can also be valued internally. Meaning, a person could decided that s/he wants to become capable of creating beautiful things. This is about the challenge, it is about self-development.

You may have heard the old rock-climbers saying. Something to the effect that they climb rocks, not to conquer the mountain, but to conquer themselves. That is intrinsic motivation.

But, few of us are rock climbers. Most people like an element of external reward for the things we do. This is where we can blend internal and external motivation.

If you are an entrepreneur, I have to imagine you would not mind being rich. However, one thing you know is that building a successful business is hard. The goal of wealth is so distant that it lacks true motivational power.

Day-to-day it is wise that we focus on internal motivation. An example being that we try to get a little better than we were yesterday. Meaning, we practice, just like Drucker said.

Together, we are simultaneously motivated on the inside and the outside. Undoubtedly you are familiar with the question of whether success is a journey or a destination. And, it is a silly question, because success is both a journey and a destination.

Day-to-day we are well advised to embrace the journey, the challenges, the self-improvement. But, there is certainly nothing wrong with taking a little time to daydream about the destination. What is it going to feel like once you have built a successful company?

Embracing the journey is the essence of intrinsic motivation. Thinking of the destination, the riches and freedoms of successful entrepreneurship, is extrinsic motivation. Together they are a powerful way to travel.