Passion and Perseverance Trumps Experience

Carl Jung once said that in the first chapter of a man’s life, he foolishly tries to change the world to suit his purposes. And in the second chapter, he comes to realize that that the world is not about to change for the likes of him and so he comes to terms with his limitations. Jung concluded that the people that actually change the world are those that live in the first chapter.

Experience is great when we learn from it but not so good when we are jaded by it. I think the secret to success is having the determination and perseverance to never give up on the goal, combined with an ability to learn from and adapt to the challenges along the way. It is somewhat of a paradox in that you have to be steadfast in where you are going, but flexible about how you get there. The trouble with experience is that it can lull us into thinking we already know the ‘how’ part of the equation. And just as so many military generals have gone down to defeat by just reusing the plans of a previous war (e.g., Maginot Line), experienced managers tend to rely too heavily on past strategies.

When I consider what I value in leaders and team members, I realize that experience is not always at the top of the list. I like people from Jung’s first chapter – competent and determined folks that embody a willingness to try and learn. And yes, sometimes that means trying things that didn’t work before or won’t work this time. But failure is the price of progress, and so it is that we need leaders that are not terrified of failure.