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.
