February 8, 2010 by Robin Dickinson | 158 views | Comments (20)
Stuck on the cusp of major success
Notes:
This post was inspired by a recent conversation with a colleague who expressed frustration with a partner who was forever “on the cusp of major success”, but never actually breaking through and achieving it.
Your thoughts…
Have you (or someone you know) ever been stuck on the cusp of major success?
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20 Responses to this post
February 8, 2010 at 3:07 pm |
It’s easy to enjoy the beautiful view of an idealized future. It’s tempting to remain there and not have to deal with the “more interesting” problems that greater success would bring.
The way I approach it is to keep doing things that push me toward that future instead of just enjoying the view of what “could” be ahead.
Momentum is key. If you settle for just enjoying the potential of your future, you’ll never get there. If you keep moving toward it, eventually you reach the tipping point where you slide into it without even noticing the change.
Which brings to mind an alternate view of the picture you provided. The person clings to the armchair desperately while talking about how rosy the future is that he is clawing to avoid. That’s the way it often works out.
February 8, 2010 at 6:20 pm |
Thanks, Jeff.
Excellent input. Your opening paragraph nails a lot of what I see. It’s something I’ve wrestled with over the years. That idealized view of the future can be very alluring – and persuasive.
I’ve seen many charismatic leaders eloquently paint the most glorious vistas of promised lands, only to fail miserably in the execution. I guess a lot of the fun for them IS the painting the picture, and enrolling the team.
So how does one get momentum?
Great to have you share your thoughts and ideas, Jeff.
Best, Robin
February 8, 2010 at 8:12 pm |
Robin
I’m looking hard at all the other visual cues in the this image. The books, the waves, the desert (I need a hi-res image to see more, please!)
I’ll be quite honest here – this is very much me.
I’ve got all the potential to earn more income through client work (Social Media consulting, product, speaking) but am just not nailing it. I can build movements (been doing that for 10 years), but monetization is a struggle for me, probably bc it requires managing a system day in, day out.
Like Jeff says, and you agreed, you can enjoy the beautiful view of “potential”. I often find myself musing over all the possibilities that I have, and play the numbers game – that if i have X number of potentials then surely I will at least generate Y number of clients – and then slip into apathy.
The scary thing, like you drawing illustrates, is how comfortable it is. There is an addiction that SO many people have to this. I look at all the people on Twitter, for instance, who have been sucked into the “blog yourself rich” ploy and are just not making money – and somehow, managing to not make money whilst having an incredible amount of activity.
I think I know what part of the solution is.
Late last year I was thinking about how I am good at starting things, but not so good at managing them. I realised though that just because you are not a manager it doesn’t disqualify you from having to be a ‘finisher’. You must finish what you start – of course finishing here meaning completing goals, not bailing out of the project half way through, and finishing the stage of ‘starting’ by allowing someone else to take over.
February 9, 2010 at 6:45 pm |
Thanks, Scott. As I’ve already said to you, this is one of the most honest comments I’ve read on the web. It certainly resonates with me.
Starting is a blast. The rush of energy and excitement. The great possibilities. The team spirit and promise of better things to come.
And there’s a trap. I’ve heard many leaders cry that the best is yet to come.
Sure, it’s great to have eyes towards the future, but not if we don’t implement and finish the jobs along the way.
There is great satisfaction to be gained in stopping the process of envisioning for a while and getting down and dirty in the day-to-day tasks.
What if the vision was to finish what was started? Is that so ordinary? Completion releases huge satisfaction that inspires and motivates – and keeps us centred on the present – the space where all the truly great opportunities are.
Thanks, Scott.
I really appreciate the dialogue with you.
Best, Robin
February 8, 2010 at 8:32 pm |
Fantastic post, Robin. Thanks again for inspiring me to think about where I’m at and what I need to do to get myself to where I know I should be.
Quoting Michel de Montaigne (I think): “I quote others only in order to better express myself.” So in that respect – and with a touch of irony – I don’t think I could say it any better than the following:
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The would is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” — Calvin Coolidge
‘Nuff said?
February 9, 2010 at 6:52 pm |
Thanks, Andrew.
Andrew, Coolidge & Montaigne – now there’s a group!
But what if persistence day in and day out is boring? Sure, like eating rolled oats – we understand it’s good for us, but it’s also dull and uninteresting.
So how do we shift from the cognitive understanding that persistence ultimately delivers the keys to success, to being enthused enough to embrace the daily grind of doing what’s necessary?
It’s much more fun to vision-skip, and meet to discuss the big ideas, the trends and the next exciting wave.
Visions are hypnotic. They sell the sizzle with no pathway to the steak. We all stand and punch the air at the cry of putting a man on the moon in ten years. It sounds so very good. But them what? Someone has to roll their sleeves up and do something – again and again and again.
Great to get your input, Andrew.
Best, Robin
February 9, 2010 at 7:22 pm |
Andrew, Just had to say that Coolidge quote is a personal favourite of mine. Here’s another one that I believe relates to this conversation that you may appreciate, by another courageous US president, Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Cheers,
Carolyne
February 9, 2010 at 8:01 pm |
Rob,
As I know all too well from personal experience, when you are on the cusp of great success or a “major breakthrough”, you are no more successful than when you started the journey. You are only truly successful after you have crossed the finish line and actually achieved the definition of the elusive concept behind that word. There is no “nearly there” or nigh when we speak of success. It ain’t over ‘tll the fat lady sings.
The cusp is a very dangerous place to be. It is the place where all of your time & efforts in getting there will either become a wise investment or a complete boondoggle. If the first step toward success requires the most courage, then the last step must surely require the most assiduous dedication and diligent drudgery.
If someone becomes “stuck” on the cusp, there is always a reason. For every effect, there is a cause, without exception. In the case of the cusp, the challenge is finding the *root* of that cause, in order to eradicate it from the equation and jump the apex, to the sunny side of the peak.
There’s a great Six Sigma tool for this that anyone can try. It’s an old trick for root-causing problem issues called The Five Whys. The execution is as simple as it’s name: ask yourself Why? Why am I stuck on the cusp of success? Then look at your answer and ask why of that. Repeat, as many times as necessary, until you have drilled down through all of your excuses and justifications and you have finally reached the heart of the matter. It generally takes at least 5 Whys.
When you dig deep enough and find the heart of the problem, the answer tends to immediately elucidate the solution as well.
I have found, when working with clients on the cusp and using this valuable tool, that many times the root-cause is FEAR. The conscious or unconscious fear of actually crossing the line and finally achieving their goal. As your sapient sketches illustrate, the cusp is a much more comfortable, safe place to be.
Cheers,
Carolyne
February 10, 2010 at 8:01 pm |
Thanks, Carolyne. That’s an excellent contribution to the discussion. So, building on your input, if fear is the underlying cause (generally speaking), what’s the solution?
Fear is such a powerful motivator. And in this case, it leaves people in this kind of suspended animation, where all of the reasons why – the excuses not to achieve the final goal – are thoroughly rehearsed and eloquently spun to all who dare question their cuspate behaviour.
More than that. Those near to this web get enrolled into supporting the story of ‘one day soon’.
So how does one unravel this sophisticated game of self-protection from perceived failure?
Best to you, Robin
February 10, 2010 at 11:00 pm |
Hi Carolyne,
Great comment. They ‘whys’ are big questions which I suspect would often give rise to personal answers that people don’t want to admit to in a business context.
I wonder, though, if your definition of success needs broadening somewhat to be journey-centric rather than destination-centric? If you’re on track with your goals, heading in the direction you want to be heading, then that makes you successful along the course of the journey, not just when you reach the destination, right? This idea is discussed at greater length here: http://anthillonline.com/entrepreneurial-success-why-a-clear-objective-can-make-us-narrow-minded/
I don’t agree with all of what he says, but I believe his concept of success – as a journey and not a destination – has merit. A successful destination must, by definition, arise from a successful journey… so why not celebrate the success as a continuum rather than a point?
When you think about it, this perspective also gives hope for the low times. I once heard a preacher say ‘you will achieve your destiny not IN SPITE of what you’ve endured, but BECAUSE of it.’ If you can look at your journey in this way, then you can take faith from the fact that you are on a successful journey regardless of what it looks like at the time – provided, of course, that you’re approaching it in the right fashion. If you’re not, then it’s time to change!
February 9, 2010 at 9:06 pm |
Too close to the bone really. When are you going to let up?
To paraphrase Carolyne, the fear of boondoggle is the root of all kinds of evil. I hear you sister.
On a connected note, I recommend readers watch Invictus, as an example of an actor and a Director well past the cusp of success, and risking grand commercial failure to convey something important. That’s the real fruit of success, and in this case the gift of old men to the world.
February 10, 2010 at 8:05 pm |
That was quite a movie! Thanks for dipping in, Ben. No letting up here, buddy. Too much richness coming from you guys to reverse back onto the thicker ice now that we’re all tap dancing!
Nelson Mandela inspired a nation off the cusp – a very destructive cusp. In your opinion, is the cusp-comfort syndrome necessarily a negative state?
Best, Robin
February 10, 2010 at 8:21 pm |
Hi Rob
To answer your question I’ll quote Australian Rugby League coach, Wayne Bennett.
“We all have our breaking point – we just have to push it further and further away.”
So, the flip side of the cusp of breakthrough is a place of continual improvement and satisfaction. That puts major success here, and now.
Having said that, I feel better already.
Best
Ben
February 10, 2010 at 7:51 am |
Great comment, Carolyne! I’ve used a similar technique at the beginning of an endeavor to tune in to what I really want out of it. I had never thought of using it as I approached its climax.
Which, along with @BenDawe’s cinematic allusion, brings up another angle on this, a Hero’s Journey (ala Joseph Campbell) angle. As any story reaches the climax, the hero faces one final challenge that requires putting everything the hero has learned along the path to that point in the story to the test.
The hero has started out with a fatal flaw that kept the hero in a semi-comfortable position. The hero’s life was not what that hero wanted it to be, but at least it was manageably free from pain.
The inciting incident makes that life unmanageable. It forces the hero to take action that challenges that fatal flaw in order to make life manageable again.
The hero learns and grows along the way. As the hero approaches the climax, one final obstacle remains. All the growth and all the learning the hero achieved along the journey is put to the test. The hero can either take final action against impossible odds to secure victory, or shrink back and admit defeat.
In the world of storytelling, that climax is always an either/or proposition. The hero can take on those final, impossible odds, or fail.
In the real world, a third option exists — remaining at that “cusp,” always close enough to feel that victory close at hand, but just far enough back not to have to release our hold on our own “fatal flaws” with which we have grown comfortable.
Truly achieving success, then, is not so much a matter of the accomplishments that others see. Those are just the fruit. True success involves pruning off from ourselves whatever “fatal flaws” sap energy away from that fruit. It forces us to grow beyond what we were. Then, not only can we produce the fruit we originally sought, but crop after crop of fruit.
February 10, 2010 at 8:14 pm |
Very nice, Jeff. Your comment alone has added incredible value to this discussion.
You put it so well – “True success involves pruning off from ourselves whatever “fatal flaws” sap energy away from that fruit. It forces us to grow beyond what we were.”
I’m going to reflect on that paragraph way beyond this post.
To truly step up to the plate and take a good hard look at oneself is one of the hero’s ultimate tests.
To see past the circumstances, the expectations, the promises, the potential and the dreams, and see the human – right here, right now. To be completely honest and real.
Makes me wonder if I’ve ever really done this. Have you?
Realizing one’s ‘fatal flaws’ is such a show-stopper at one level, and such a liberator, at another.
Thank you, Jeff. Your ongoing and generous contribution is rich and thoroughly appreciated.
Best to you, Robin
May 4, 2010 at 6:30 pm |
Great way to stimulate discussion – I read the cartoon very differently.
To me it implies that people’s visions fail because they’re sat on their behinds watching telly and drinking wine and thus failing to see what’s coming. The 50 businesses a day in the UK whose businesses have gone into liquidation might want to take issue with this.
Ultimately, yes, it’s poor execution and failure to foresee something that may result in companies failing (and is certainly part of what you’re portraying), but sat around with a head of fluff and doing nothing about it is rarely at the root of the problem.
If anything it’s failing to give up soon enough that creates the bigger problems – or not taking the time out to relax and ride that wave.
Hence so many baggy eyed, battle scarred entrepreneurs. Lacking crystal balls, yes. Lazy? Sat in an office at 1 am and getting responses back to emails says otherwise.
May 4, 2010 at 10:11 pm |
Thank you for your interesting perspective, Claire.
That’s the beauty of pictures – different people see different things and bring fresh thinking.
Your image of the “baggy eyed, battle scarred entrepreneurs. Lacking crystal balls…” brings up different imagery for me.
That would not be the vision-enamored, comfortably immobilized dreamer, I was seeking to portray here. No, as you point out, that image would tell the tale of “failing to give up soon enough”.
I appreciate your view!
Best, Robin
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