Good Self, Bad Self
Judy Smith
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That freaked-out CEO on the phone? His management style—letting each division head have a great deal of freedom—encouraged the creativity and flexibility that allowed his many companies to soar, but his lack of direct engagement also led to his cluelessness about the possible bad behavior of one honcho. That’s just one example of how what makes people successful in life and in business can be the same trait that gets them into trouble.
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Although I have rarely found there to be only a single cause for the occurrence of a crisis—or for that matter only one solution—the root causes of most crises often lie in an imbalance in one of seven traits: Ego, Denial, Fear, Ambition, Accommodation, Patience, and Indulgence.
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as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about obscenity: it’s difficult to define, but I know it when I see it; it’s often a gut call
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As Jeff Wise, author of Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger, so eloquently puts it: “Fear is a force that gives life meaning.”
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Mark Twain once said, “There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice.”
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Back in 1872, Charles Darwin wrote about trying not to feel fear. Visiting London’s Zoological Gardens, he repeatedly put his face close to the glass of an adder cage. He told himself not to flinch if the snake tried to strike. After all, the snake was behind glass! His fear was purely psychological. But he failed again and again. “As soon as the blow was struck my resolution went to nothing and I jumped a yard or two backwards with astonishing rapidity,” he wrote in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. “Will and reason were powerless.” Telling ourselves not to feel fear is like telling ourselves not to blink when we sneeze. Our bodies know what they know, and trying to fight that programming is a waste of time. What really matters most is how we use our conscious minds to handle that knowledge.
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We over-respond to a perceived threat, one that may be better resolved through thought and measured action, rather than a quick reaction.
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Noted sociologist Erving Goffman believed that people who are fearful but don’t recognize fear as their primary problem often engage in a “series of preventative strategies” to avoid facing the fear
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According to the New York Times, the psychologist told him, “Speak with an authoritative voice and never promise more safety than you can deliver; voice your anger, but direct it at the real enemy.”
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“Velluvial matrix sounds like something you should know about, doesn’t it?” Gawande asked. “And that’s the problem. I will let you in on a little secret. You never stop wondering if there is a velluvial matrix you should know about.”