The Boss

Here are two quotes I heard this week.

1.  "Do not ascribe to malice what can be explained by ignorance or exhaustion." - Krista Tippett


All too often we make the Fundamental attribution error and assume people are being intentionally malicious or are "bad" people when in reality they are influenced by other factors. They may be tired. They may have more or less information on a subject. They may be in a hurry. They may be shaped by the situation they are in, such as Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment or Abu Ghraib (Great interview with Tim Ferriss). Or they may have an unintentional habit they haven't resolved.

People are not good or bad, we're products of our environment and present moment state. Bruce Springsteen's father was very erratic and extremely tough on him during his childhood. He learned to accept his father by reminding himself "My dad is just not normal." Later in life his father was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and everything made sense. But why do we have to wait for things to make sense. Everyone is flawed.


2.  "The superheroes you have in your mind (idols, icons, titans, billionaires, etc.) are nearly all walking flaws who've maximized 1 or 2 strengths." - Tim Ferris


We do not have to be perfect to be successful. Steve Jobs was very successful despite his flaws. P&G invests in it's strengths and sells off divisions that are not producing results. Artists who learn to outsource management of their art and focus more on being creative will be more successful.

It's a particularly harmful strategy that's reinforced in women. Reshma Saujani discusses how parents should focus more on teaching girls bravery than perfection. It's also the subject of the HBO series Big Little Lies. The women are trying to have it all and be perfect and it's causing then a lot of unnecessary consequences. Men should heed the same advice. Don't wait until your flaws are fixed. Accept yourself and live out your dreams by utilizing your strengths.