Today's Business Lessons
By Francis J. Kong (The Philippine Star)
Updated September 09, 2012
There are reasons behind the success of Jim Collin’s book Good to Great besides business principles.
Collins has been hailed as the likely successor to Peter Drucker in the field of business gurui-sm. I’ve seen and heard him speak at least three times, and found that, not only is he a good writer, but he’s a very interesting speaker as well.
In Good to Great, there’s a principle he calls the Stockdale Principle. Simply stated, the Stockdale Principle says, “Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of difficulties. AND, at the same time… confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Admiral Jim Stockdale was the highest-ranking US officer in the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam War. In his eight years in captivity, he was tortured over 20 times and never knew when – or if – he would be released. In prison, he dutifully led the other prisoners working for the highest possible survival rate.
When Jim Collins asked Stockdale how he managed to survive, he replied: “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
“Who didn’t make it out?” Collins asked.
“Oh that’s easy,” he said. “The optimists.”
“The optimists? I don’t understand,” Collins said, completely confused.
“…Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart. This is the important lesson: You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you cannot afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
We could all benefit from practicing the Stockdale Principle. It’s good to be an optimist, but optimism should be tempered by realism. Realism doesn’t come from a compilation of motivational clichés, but it involves real life experience and critical thinking thatlead to depth and wisdom.
I dutifully enter inspirational quotes in all of my three Facebook pages and my blog site every day. I’ve got people waiting for it. Many of them express their approval. Once in a while, I would come across people who would refute my views. That’s perfectly all right as we all have our own viewpoints. What bothers me is when people quote clichés all the time. They read a couple of motivational books or maybe even attend my seminars, then quote clichés left and right without any amount of thought and understanding.
Abraham Lincoln lost seven times in the elections first before winning the presidency of the United States. Vincent van Gogh earned $85 from his paintings during his lifetime; one hundred years after his death, just one painting alone, Dr. Gachet, sold for $82.5 million. An itinerant, Middle Eastern preacher who lived some 2,000 years ago continued his ministry and even offered his life for many even though he was rejected by both the religious leaders of his time as well as the people of his hometown because his teaching was radical. Had Abraham Lincoln, Vincent van Gogh or Jesus of Nazareth let rejection rule their lives, and keep them from doing and saying what they felt sure to be right, our world would be incredibly impoverished today. But they humbly faced the brutal facts and dedicated their lives to their mission anyway.
Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Even Jesus faced the brutal facts and even went through them.
Be optimistic, but be realistic as well. Do your homework and get some thinking done.
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