I’ve been reading Behance’s site The 99 Percent recently, and I really like it. Some smart thinking going on over there. Anyway, I flagged one article in particular from my weekend studying and have read it over a few times. It’s called “Avoid the Trap of Business Narcissism.”
It’s about human nature and our reaction to challenges, specifically thinking “there’s never been anything like this before” or “these are extraordinary times.”
Scott Belsky writes:
From all the times I have heard, “This is the most unusual X, the greatest period of Y, the new era of Z,” I was starting to think that, had I not been born in the last thirty years, I would have missed the most interesting years of business since the Big Bang.
He continues:
“Business Narcissism” is rampant. It is the leader’s default thinking that they are the exception to the rule. “Business Narcissism” is the tendency of all leaders and teams, across industries, to think that they are always encountering a special case.
The real unique opportunity is for leaders to internalize a grounding realization: not much is new and yes, you can adequately learn from the past. Saying “this is the time of opportunity” is narcissistic. Instead, take some perspective. Today never feels like it will be history, but it will. And more likely than not, we will look back and realize that we should have known.
Very interesting. I agree that we have a tendency to think like this. Everyone does. But I don’t necessarily find it narcissistic to view now as time of opportunity. I truly believe now is a great opportunity. We’ve got a chance to do really amazing things, to bring a little unconventional wisdom to the table, to rewrite some of the rules and to pull the country out of this mess.
True, it’s foolish to think there have never been times like these. But every challenge is an opportunity to do something awesome.
By Rich Sullivan
Tags: article, random thoughts
