Ignorance, Incompetence and Impostors

<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IfUXp1QzHRA/XyGsAk_rUTI/AAAAAAABOH4/KwTMFeu4bOMvH1xXQOnf0WhwEwqgs2U9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1010/Andries%2BCornelis%2BLens%2B-%2BHercules%2BProtects%2BPainting%2Bfrom%2BIgnorance%2Band%2BEnvy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Painting from 1763 of Hercules protecting painting from Ignorance and Envy" border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1010" height="504" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IfUXp1QzHRA/XyGsAk_rUTI/AAAAAAABOH4/KwTMFeu4bOMvH1xXQOnf0WhwEwqgs2U9QCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h504/Andries%2BCornelis%2BLens%2B-%2BHercules%2BProtects%2BPainting%2Bfrom%2BIgnorance%2Band%2BEnvy.jpg" title="Andres Cornelis Lens: Hercules Protects Painting from Ignorance and Envy" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andries_Cornelis_Lens_-_Hercules_Protects_Painting_from_Ignorance_and_Envy_-_WGA12673.jpg">Hercules Protects Painting from Ignorance and Envy</a></em></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>"[I]gnorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge."</strong> </em></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em><em>— Charles Darwin, 1871</em></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>If you were granted the opportunity to choose between two states of being, which would you prefer: being stupid but not realizing it, or being intelligent but not believing it?</p><p>Ignorance itself isn't something to be ashamed of. We're all ignorant in certain areas. When combined with a lack of self-awareness though, it could mean the difference between being harmless and dangerous.</p><p>Humility isn't dishonorable either. Or perhaps you wouldn't consider not believing your own intelligence to be defined as humility; maybe you prefer the phrase <em>de rigueur</em>: impostor syndrome.</p><p>Given the choice between these two states of being, which would you choose?</p><p>"Ignorance is bliss," as the saying goes, but that only applies to the ignorant―those on one side of the equation. What about those whom are the victims of ignorance, whether it's hapless or willful? The principled among us would feel responsibility for any damage our actions cause others. The ignorant? Not so much. I'm not sure I could live with such a state of being.<br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>"The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world, the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."</strong> </em></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em><em>– Bertrand Russell, 1933</em></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>In <em><a href="https://amzn.to/39DnKDv">Mortals and Others</a></em>, the philosopher Bertrand Russell included a scathing essay titled "<a href="https://russell-j.com/0583TS.HTM">The Triumph of Stupidity</a>," written in 1933. It was aimed at Germany, but could just as well apply to America today. In addition to this misplaced sense of confidence, he also points out that along the way, there's a moral failing as well: "<em>if intelligence is to be effective, it will have to be combined with a moral fervour which it usually possessed in the past but now usually lacks</em>."</p><p>Amid the COVID-19 response, we've seen a moral failing in scientific leaders who have missed opportunities to speak up when political leadership says misguided or ignorant things (e.g., "light inside the body" and "disinfectant"). The willful and hapless ignorance of these leaders resulted in cases and deaths that outstrip the rest of the world. Conflicting messages and uncertainty, combined with many Americans' desire to get back to normalcy and lack of self-discipline, combined with their skepticism of scientific experts have given us <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/america-land-pathetic/613747/">an America that is woefully ignorant of its decline</a>.</p><p>This might be summed up most succinctly in a quote from Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who said on June 30, 2020, in a pandemic hearing regarding the role of public health in the reopening of schools: "<em>We shouldn't presume that a group of experts somehow knows what's best for everyone.</em>"<br /></p><h3><strong><br /></strong></h3><h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Dunning-Kruger Effect on a National Scale</span></strong></h2><p>The Dunning-Kruger effect, named for social psychologists David Dunning (University of Michigan) and Justin Kruger (New York University's Stern School of Business), states that people of average abilities tend to overestimate their competence, while those of above average abilities tend not to realize how proficient they are. That is, <strong>confidence does not align with competence</strong>. It's illustrated in this graph:</p><div style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: min(75.9677%, 471px); text-align: center; width: 100%;"><a class="image-link image2 image2-471-620" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F156e7d64-46be-4a2d-b39a-e0de455bb2ea_620x471.jpeg" style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: min(75.9677%, 471px); width: 100%;" target="_blank"><img alt="Image for post" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/156e7d64-46be-4a2d-b39a-e0de455bb2ea_620x471.jpeg","height":471,"width":620,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Image for post","title":null,"type":null,"href":null}" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F156e7d64-46be-4a2d-b39a-e0de455bb2ea_620x471.jpeg" style="max-height: 471px; max-width: 620px;" /></a></div><p><a href="https://medium.com/discourse/the-dunning-kruger-effect-explains-why-society-is-so-screwed-up-1432aca90aa8">The loudest voices tend to have the most confidence but little competence</a>. In the animal kingdom, the ape or the lion expresses domination by virtue of a roar, but their sounds are backed up by ability. The weaker animal who tries to dominate by voice can receive his comeuppance with a drubbing if his physical abilities don't match his vocal abilities.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>"What a king must suffer! For he knows, deep down in his heart, that he is a poor, cheap, wormy thing like the rest of us, a sarcasm, the Creator's prime miscarriage in inventions, the moral inferior of all the animals… the superior of them all in one gift only, and that one not up to his estimation of it — intellect."</strong> </em></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em><em>— Mark Twain, 1906</em></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>With humans? Not so much. We often see leaders <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3f95BGIiA">asserting their primacy of knowledge in a wide variety of subjects</a>. It's impossible for anyone to master many topics; this is why the best leaders assemble teams that contain subject matter experts, and then rely on them for advice and counsel. Leaders and experts know that there are limits to what they know; if they're presented with something outside of their sphere of knowledge, they're not afraid to say “I don’t know.”</p><p>Add to this the concept of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/role-cognitive-dissonance-pandemic/614074/">cognitive dissonance</a>, and it complicates matters further. The minute we make any decision we begin to justify the wisdom of our choice and find reasons to dismiss  alternatives.</p><p>You've probably encountered your fair share of leaders in business who don't seem to have the skills to match their positions. This was first captured as an idea by Dr. Laurence Peter in his 1969 satire <em><a href="https://amzn.to/336T8Ji">The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong</a></em>. Stated simply, the Peter Principle is this: "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."</p><p>It's based on the idea that employees will continue to receive promotions until they ultimately land in a position that's above their skill set. We often reward individual performers for success that has nothing to do with the positions they'll be placed in next. That is, we might see a proficient analyst or marketer, and based on the successes they've generated, put them in leadership positions.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>"I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among the men the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement."</strong> </em></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em><em>— Charles M. Schwab, 1897</em></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p>Leadership requires a different set of skills than positions of individual performance. It's one thing to hone a deep level of expertise in a specific area; it's quite another to handle the functions of management and leadership. Suddenly, you're no longer responsible for the output—you're responsible for your people.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Impostor</span></strong></h2><p>Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a project, a speech, or strategic planning and thought, "I shouldn't be here. I don't have the skills or the ability to do this, even though people think I do."? If so, you've experienced an aspect of impostor syndrome.</p><p>Despite astonishing accomplishments, some people still feel a nagging sense of self-doubt and severe inadequacy. They might even feel like frauds.<br /><br /></p><div><hr /><br /></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em>“<strong>Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius."</strong> </em></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1914<br /><br /></em></div></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p>Even though many people struggle with impostor syndrome, I see two upsides to this. The first is it's evidence of self-reflection. Good leaders have a high degree of emotional intelligence (EQ), and one aspect of EQ is self-awareness. You can't have self-awareness without reflection. So, even though impostor syndrome brings self-doubt, you can be sure that those who struggle with it are not suffering from ignorance.</p><p>The second point is a corollary to the first: Intelligence looks in the mirror and sees ignorance. Ignorance looks in the mirror and sees intelligence. The only people who don't suffer from impostor syndrome are actual impostors. Remember that.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">What's a Leader to Do?</span></strong></h1><p>As we try to bridge the gap between ignorance and competence, and to provide ourselves and others with well-reasoned rationales, there are a few steps we can take to minimize detrimental behavior.</p><p><strong>Don’t assume everyone knows what you know</strong>. Even if there are certain topics that come easy to you, take the time to bring everyone along on the journey. Overcommunicate without being patronizing.</p><p><strong>Make it okay for people to ask questions</strong>. No castigating or belittling: we are all on different stages of our journeys, whether it's in a career or in life.</p><p><strong>Failure is an option</strong>. We don't want to celebrate incompetence, but we should acknowledge it, free of stigma, and encourage learning from mistakes. To ignore it or punish it outright only gives people reasons to hide failures.</p><p><strong>Set time aside for reflection</strong>. Self-assessment is an always-on effort. We learn by honestly assessing our words and actions with others. Encourage self-reflection in your team as well.</p><p><strong>Find your inspiration</strong>. Look to others you admire and try to understand their journey to success. Yours may not be identical, but you can learn from them.</p><p>And don’t forget Hanlon's razor:  "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."</p><p><br /></p><p>So have you decided whether you'd rather be stupid without realizing it, or intelligent but doubtful of it?</p><p>It's not an easy choice—and of course it's a false one because these are not absolutes. But given the choice between the two, the latter at least provides a path toward enlightenment.</p><p>And a path forward is all we can ask.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>This originally appeared in the July 29 issue of the <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Timeless & Timely</a> newsletter. What are you missing? To see this issue in its entirety, with entertaining and thoughtful links, recommendations, and more, <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/p/ignorance-incompetence-and-impostors" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">please click here</a></i>. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Don't miss a single issue:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://scottmonty.substack.com/embed" style="max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></div></div>

Ignorance, Incompetence and Impostors

Hercules Protects Painting from Ignorance and Envy "[I]gnorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." — Charles...

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A Monumental Reckoning

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Dr04stRQa4/Xw7_pp9VjgI/AAAAAAABN-U/sXeY7mLprJoSAB7xVGqq5kObvozqa3xCACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/William%2BWalcutt%2B-%2BPulling%2BDown%2Bthe%2BStatue%2Bof%2BGeorge%2BIII%2Bat%2BBowling%2BGreen%252C%2BJuly%2B9%252C%2B1776.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Painting of the toppling of the statue of George III on July 9, 1776" border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1280" height="410" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Dr04stRQa4/Xw7_pp9VjgI/AAAAAAABN-U/sXeY7mLprJoSAB7xVGqq5kObvozqa3xCACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h410/William%2BWalcutt%2B-%2BPulling%2BDown%2Bthe%2BStatue%2Bof%2BGeorge%2BIII%2Bat%2BBowling%2BGreen%252C%2BJuly%2B9%252C%2B1776.jpg" title="Pulling Down the Statue of George III at Bowling Green, N.Y. July 9, 1776" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Walcutt_statue_George_III.png" target="_blank">Pulling Down the Statue of George III at Bowling Green, N.Y. July 9, 1776</a> </em>by William Walcutt, 1857 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)</font><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><h6 data-pm-context="[]"></h6><div><hr /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>“Si monumentum requiris, circumspice.” </strong></em></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Christopher Wren, 1723</em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>There’s a very human tendency to cling to what’s familiar — to keep up a process or tradition because “we've always done it that way.”</p><p>It’s so powerful a notion that in many boardrooms and whiteboard sessions, it’s used as a reflexive force field, to shield the team and the corporation from looming change. A new approach is greeted with “Nope, sorry. That won’t work. We’ve always done it this way.”</p><p>Consider our attachment to monuments and the current debates happening about them, as we reassess what they stand for. One camp is interested in removing anything object or representation that doesn’t square with our modern sensibilities and the other is steadfastly clinging to the past, right or wrong.</p><p>Does a physical object determine our beliefs? Can it teach us history?</p><p>A statue or monument certainly isn’t an advanced history lesson, but it does tell us something about our history as a society, if not the events or people it represents. It’s a snapshot in time rather than a fully fleshed out story—the difference between what happened and what we tell each other happened.</p><p>Lewis H. Lapham <strong><a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/memory/remembered-past" target="_blank">eloquently wrote about the recorded past versus the remembered past</a></strong>:</p><blockquote><p><em>“The recorded past is a spiked cannon. The remembered past is live ammunition — not what happened two hundred or two thousand years ago, a story about what happened two hundred or two thousand years ago. The stories change with circumstance and the sight lines available to tellers of the tale. Every generation rearranges the furniture of the past to suit the comfort and convenience of its anxious present.”</em></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Ultimately, it’s about keeping a set of stories alive. Consider how the <em>Iliad</em> and the <em>Odyssey</em> made their way to us today, first as part of the oral tradition and then codified in writing.</p><p>When it comes to physical monuments, they tell us a great deal about ourselves, about our priorities at the time they were built, rather than about the events or people they symbolize.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“If there is one lesson to be learned from studying how monuments get chosen and built, it is that they most certainly do not represent history in any straightforward or responsible way.” </strong></em></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em><em>— Kirk Savage, 2018 (“<a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/making-monuments-what-they-ought-be" target="_blank">Making Monuments What They Ought to Be</a>”)</em></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p>Prof. Savage says that monuments tell us more about who made the decisions to build them and the times in which <em>they</em> lived. For example, the Emancipation Memorial, a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave on his knees, was dedicated in 1876 after funds were exclusively raised by emancipated citizens, yet “a committee of white philanthropists in St. Louis controlled the money and decided on the artist and design without ever consulting their funders.”</p><p>The current debate began with monuments to leaders of the Confederacy. When you stop to think about it, <strong><a href="https://pca.st/fv4imvua#t=3735.0">it</a></strong>’<strong><a href="https://pca.st/fv4imvua#t=3735.0" target="_blank">s just plain crazy</a></strong> that we had statues honoring men who were traitors and who tried to bring down the country.</p><p>We hear the plaintive cries of “history” and of “heritage” that inevitably follow. But the facts remain. Most of these weren’t built in the years following the war to honor its history, but <strong><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/16/us/confederate-monuments-backlash-chart-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">decades after the Civil War ended</a></strong>, at a time when the country looked like it was making racial progress. And honoring traitors isn’t part of the heritage of any other country.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0B7KCZNlVQ/Xw8I0dnqQSI/AAAAAAABN-g/Ep8j_xLAn5Ahvdt5yRpNSip5GzkwAAZBACLcBGAsYHQ/s1100/Confederate%2Bmonuments%2Bover%2Btime.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1100" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0B7KCZNlVQ/Xw8I0dnqQSI/AAAAAAABN-g/Ep8j_xLAn5Ahvdt5yRpNSip5GzkwAAZBACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/Confederate%2Bmonuments%2Bover%2Btime.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>What about other monuments to leaders who exercised questionable judgement? Leaders like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, who both owned slaves, and of others who may not live up to our standards today, are now being called into question.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><em><strong>“No one monument could be made to tell the whole truth of any subject which it might be designed to illustrate.”</strong> </em></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em><em>— Frederick Douglass, 1876</em></em></div><em><br /></em><p></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>This is where things can get problematic. If you dig deeper into things like women’s rights, gay rights or civil rights or other issues that are important by today’s standards, you’re going to find faults with every single leader of the past.</p><p>As presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says, “<strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ye2S8FbHPU" target="_blank">we need to cut the past some slack</a></strong>,” understand these figures, and get perspective on them.<br /><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9Ye2S8FbHPU" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><p><br /></p><p>I often think that if I weren’t a communicator and a marketer, I’d be a historian. For what is a historian, but a storyteller? It’s the historian's job to understand the past and put some context around it.</p><p>That’s your job as a leader. To put context around strategies, decisions, and initiatives. You’re the chief storyteller who weaves a narrative for your employees and gets them excited or informed about the <em>why</em> behind the <em>what</em>.</p><p>Vainglorious leaders spend too much time worrying about their legacy. They hope to be remembered for the mark they leave on the world — for some, these things occupy their every waking moments.</p><p>We’d like to think our legacy assumes some permanence, as expressed in concrete, marble or steel, but in “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias" target="_blank">Ozymandias</a>” Shelley reminds us such things are temporary:</p><blockquote><p><em>“Nothing beside remains. Round the decay<br />Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare<br />The lone and level sands stretch far away.”</em></p></blockquote><p><br />True legacy — the legacy that matters — isn’t one that’s set in stone or on balance sheets. Your legacy will be in the stories they tell about you. It will be carried on by employees long after you've left the company, who remember you fondly for the way you made them feel.</p><p>Christopher Wren’s quote at the top of the essay (<em>“Si monumentum requiris, circumspice”</em>) is Latin for “If you seek his monument, look around you,” and is set in a great circle in the floor directly under the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, his masterpiece.</p><p>The beauty of the placement is that when you do look around, you see not the Wren crypt but the whole glorious structure that he created. An architectural wonder that does more than honors his memory: it brings joy, instills wonder, and inspires awe to all who visit there. It’s a monument, but not to Wren; it's a monument to our relationship with God.</p><p>At home, your family won’t remember you for your work achievements, nor for the headstone or mausoleum built to mark your final resting place. They’ll remember you for the love you show and the moments you share together. In short, for the joy, wonder and awe you bring them.</p><p>Your monument will be built on the relationships you nurture.</p><p>As the cast sang in <em>Hamilton</em>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gnypiKNaJE" target="_blank">who lives, who dies, who tells your story</a>?</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div><hr /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">This originally appeared in the July 15 issue of the <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Timeless & Timely</a> newsletter. What are you missing? To see this issue in its entirety, with entertaining and thoughtful links, recommendations, and more, <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/p/a-monumental-reckoning" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">please click here</a></i><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Don't miss a single issue:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://scottmonty.substack.com/embed" style="max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>

A Monumental Reckoning

Pulling Down the Statue of George III at Bowling Green, N.Y. July 9, 1776   by William Walcutt, 1857 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons) “Si...

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If Only

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7mBuwWgclQ/XwX0YzL2RjI/AAAAAAABN3g/gfr8-7nFrnsenPEmFKsfm7pevix-ZO49wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Peter%2BWtewael%2B-%2BKitchen%2BScene.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1456" data-original-width="2048" height="456" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7mBuwWgclQ/XwX0YzL2RjI/AAAAAAABN3g/gfr8-7nFrnsenPEmFKsfm7pevix-ZO49wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h456/Peter%2BWtewael%2B-%2BKitchen%2BScene.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437956" target="_blank">Kitchen Scene</a></em><span style="text-align: left;"> by Peter Wtewael, 1620s (public domain - Metropolitan Museum of Art)</span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div data-pm-context="[]"> <br /></div> <hr /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <em><strong><em><strong><br />"A multitude of small delights constitute happiness."</strong> </em></strong></em></div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <em><em>— Charles Baudelaire, 1897<br /></em></em></div> <hr /> <br /> If only I had a better salary, I'd feel secure. If only I had a bigger house, I'd be content. If only I got that promotion, I'd be happier.<br /> <br /> If only… If only…<br /> <br /> We seem to predicate how we feel and how we live our lives based on tangibles and outcomes. As if there were some end goal, some final state of being that we could attain if we possessed something or passed a level—an IRL version of "<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Achievement%20unlocked">Achievement unlocked!</a>"<br /> <br /> Humans are a strange species. Our brains trick us all the time, and in the strangest ways. Here's a quick example: <b><i>if a baseball bat and a baseball together cost $1.10 and the bat costs a dollar more than the ball, how much does the ball cost?</i></b><br /> <br /> I'll bet your intuition told you that the ball was ten cents, right?<br /> <br /> If that was your answer, your brain tricked you. The correct answer is five cents.<br /> <br /> Yet our brains tell us that if only we got what we wanted, we'd be happy. That a change in circumstances would make us satisfied.<br /> <br /> Think about that for a moment. If you had desires—more money, a different house, a different job, a vacation, an ice cream cone, a single malt whisky—does that keep you happy and satisfied? Likely not. Your circumstances change briefly, but then you find you're back to saying "if only…" again. <br /> <br /> According to Professor Laurie Santos of Yale University, in her course Psychology and the Good Life, "<em><strong>a primary takeaway is that happiness is a mind-set to be cultivated, not a condition to be imposed</strong></em>." (<a href="https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/how-to-be-happy.html#_ga=2.99131222.973464786.1594220952-1797213638.1591757462">New York Magazine</a>, May 2018) <br /> <br /> A mind-set to be cultivated. In other words, it's not about external forces, the stuff you own, or the way society judges you to be successful; it's about the habits you undertake that lead to sustained satisfaction. What are some of these habits?<br /> <br /> You could put more effort into relationships with family and friends. You could <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/11/gratitude-is-virtue-not-transaction.html">practice gratitude</a> (recall that G.K. Chesterton wrote "<em><strong>Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder</strong></em>."). You can live in the present, taking the time to observe the world around you and appreciate the things that make you smile.<br /> <br /> It's the little things that matter.<br /> <br /> <div> <hr /> </div> <em><strong><br /></strong></em> <div style="text-align: center;"> <em><strong><em><strong>"If you can honestly say that you get along well with your family without worrying too much about them, that you get satisfaction from your work from day to day, and that you ‘feel good’ most of the time, you already possess the main elements in happiness."</strong> </em></strong></em></div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <em><em>— </em>Ladies’ Home Journal<em>, 1946</em></em></div> <em><br /></em> <div> <hr /> </div> <br /> We're surrounded by little things every day—things that may escape our notice. And yet, when we practice <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2020/01/how-to-make-reflection-part-of-your.html">a little reflection</a>, we can get so much more out of these little things than we first imagined.<br /> <br /> <div class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"https://www.scottmonty.com/2020/01/how-to-make-reflection-part-of-your.html","text":"How To Make Reflection a Daily Habit","class":null}" style="text-align: center;"> <b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Related: <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2020/01/how-to-make-reflection-part-of-your.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How to Make Reflection a Daily Habit</a></span></i></b></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> A couple of years ago, I posted something that later made me reframe how I look at things. I asked my friends to share a fond memory of us<span style="text-align: right;">—</span>a simple request: "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/scottmonty/posts/10154993649231625">If you're reading this, even if we barely talk, comment with a fond memory of us</a>."</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div> Much to my surprise, it got nearly 300 comments, including from some friends from long ago. But more than that, it was he caliber of responses that stuck with me.<br /> <br /> Again and again, I came across little moments—moments that in some cases, I don't even recall—that stood out in people's minds. Perhaps it was a note I sent, a remark I made, or a laugh we shared.<br /> <br /> Things that frankly, didn't seem like a big deal to me at the time. But they mattered to my friends. So much so that these memories were sparked these many years later. Like George Bailey in <em>It’s a Wonderful Life</em>, I was greeted with a multitude of small interactions that added up to a great deal ("<b><i>You've been given a great gift, George.</i></b>")<br /> <br /> It's the little things.<br /> <br /> The true power of leadership isn't how many people you can fire, how profitable or successful you make a company, or the number of hours you spend working. True leadership is found in everyday words and actions—the way you treat every person you meet.<br /> <br /> Speeches and official communications will fade from memory. But your small gestures of kindness and inspiration will remain with people forever.<br /> <br /> <div> <hr /> </div> <em><br /></em> <div style="text-align: center;"> <em><em><b>"They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel." </b></em></em></div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <em><em>— Carl W. Buehner, 1971<br /></em></em></div> <div> <hr /> </div> <h3> <br /></h3> <h2 style="text-align: left;"><b> A Little Gesture from a Big Guy</b></h2> One last story for you.<br /> <br /> One of my fondest memories of working at Ford was on Take Your Child to Work Day in 2013, when I brought my two sons, Will and Drew with me for the day.<br /> <br /> One of the events was a presentation in a large auditorium filled with Ford employees and their kids, where Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford at the time, gave a presentation. When he finished, he asked for questions from the audience, and Will's hand shot up, but there wasn’t time to take his question.<br /> <br /> Back at World Headquarters, after the boys finished their hot dogs and tater tots (a requested favorite!), as we were leaving the cafeteria, my phone rang. It was Amy, Alan’s executive assistant.<br /> <br /> “Scott, where are you?”<br /> <br />“I’m downstairs, just outside the cafeteria.”<br /> <br />“Can you come up to Alan’s office, please?”<br /> <br /> As much as I visited the 12th floor, just two floors above my office, and regularly interacted with Alan, I didn't really know what to expect. <br /> <br /> When we arrived there, Alan was waiting in the doorway with a big smile on his face. He invited us into his office and chatted with Will and Drew for a bit. He asked them about school, he inquired about their day so far, and he asked their mom’s name.<br /> <br /> Then, he sat down and wrote a note to my wife on Ford letterhead, telling her what fine boys she had and how proud she must be. Then he drew his signature heart around "Ford + Monty Family" at the bottom.<br /> <br /> He asked if we’d like a picture, and invited us behind his desk. Then he motioned to Amy, who brought in two bags of Ford goodies—Hot Wheels, pens, keychains, notepads, and other Ford tchotchkes—and sent the boys on their way.<br /> <br /> This was one of the finest examples of servant leadership I’ve ever witnessed. Alan took note of us in the audience, and even though he couldn’t answer Will’s question, he followed up with this meaningful and personal experience.<br /> <br /> Were there other executives whose kids’ questions didn’t get answered that day? Probably. Did they get an invitation up to Alan’s office? Possibly. But the thing is, even if they did, I guarantee Alan made them feel just as special as he made us feel.<br /> <br /> Because that’s the kind of leader he is.<br /> <br /> And I hope that’s the kind of leader my kids grow up to be.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, I'm spending as much time with them as I can before they're grown.<br /> <br /> If only we could stay like this forever.<br /> <br /> If only.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QYsECURlNZI/XwX1g9fS0jI/AAAAAAABN3o/QpSLdZfSeusHbEubW8H9Tg9Re4inmcdzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Take%2BYour%2BChild%2Bto%2BWork%2B2013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Monty boys with Alan Mulally" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QYsECURlNZI/XwX1g9fS0jI/AAAAAAABN3o/QpSLdZfSeusHbEubW8H9Tg9Re4inmcdzwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Take%2BYour%2BChild%2Bto%2BWork%2B2013.jpg" title="Alan Mulally with the Montys on Take Your Child to Work Day" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></i></div> <div> <hr /> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></i></div> <h3> <br /></h3> <div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">This originally appeared in the July 8 issue of the <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Timeless & Timely</a> newsletter. What are you missing? To see this issue in its entirety, with entertaining and thoughtful links, recommendations, and more, <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/p/if-only" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">please click here</a></i><span face="">. </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <span face=""><br /></span><span face=""></span><span face=""></span><span face=""></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"> Don't miss a single issue:</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"> <iframe frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://scottmonty.substack.com/embed" style="max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div>

If Only

Kitchen Scene  by Peter Wtewael, 1620s (public domain - Metropolitan Museum of Art) "A multitude of small delights constitute h...

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What It Takes to Start a Movement

<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUIaTc2lISk/Xvuub3ksocI/AAAAAAABNlc/K9fI8KX0s8UzrRuvQ9vvMgMso_iJqzWMgCK4BGAsYHg/s1280/Francois%2BPerrier%2B-%2BMoses%2Bdraws%2Bwater%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2BRock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1280" height="412" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUIaTc2lISk/Xvuub3ksocI/AAAAAAABNlc/K9fI8KX0s8UzrRuvQ9vvMgMso_iJqzWMgCK4BGAsYHg/w640-h412/Francois%2BPerrier%2B-%2BMoses%2Bdraws%2Bwater%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2BRock.jpg" title="Moses Draws Water from the Rock - painting by Francois Perrier" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francois_Perrier_-_Moses_draws_water_from_the_Rock_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Moses Draws Water from the Rock</a></i> by Francois Perrier, 1642 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)</font></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><h6 data-pm-context="[]"></h6><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks." </strong></em></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em><br /></em></div><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Sun Tzu, 5th century BC</em></div></em><p></p><p><em><br /></em></p><div><hr /></div><p>Moving people to action is more difficult than it seems.</p><p>Selling something tangible — a product, a widget, a thing — is fairly straightforward. People can see it in action, feel in their hands, and observe the difference it makes. You can craft a story around that and play a bit of show and tell.</p><p>But when you have to sell an idea or a vision? That takes more than getting people to pay attention. You need to make them <em>believe</em>.</p><p>Belief is a powerful thing. If you can get someone to put faith in what you're saying, such that they'll turn away from what I'll call <em>a pre-existing cognition</em>, you'll have won them over.</p><p>It's what was required in the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and so many other uprisings when failure could have easily been proscribed. Instead, leaders marshalled their people behind them by going first, creating hope, and focusing on their people.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>"Everyone's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."</strong> </em></p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— W.C. Fields</em></p><p><em><br /></em></p><div><hr /></div><p>Imagine if you were a person with a speech impediment and questionable self-esteem, and you were tasked with leading half a million people to their freedom. Do you think you'd be up to the task?</p><p>Moses certainly didn't at first. And yet, in the book of Exodus, he was called upon to lead his people out of Egypt. What did he do? He had quiet, reflective time and took notes. He shared this notes (on stone tablets) with his people, he showed them the way.</p><p>Eventually, Moses delegated authority and shared this vision with his chiefs. But he always demonstrated leadership by being out front and participating, just as he was asking everyone else to do. Leaders go first.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><em>Leaders are prepared to do whatever they ask their people to do.</em></h3><p>It's the classic difference between a boss and a leader: the boss says, "Go," while the leader says, "Let's go."</p><p>Simon Sinek's book <em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/2VAw6WR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaders Eat Last</a></strong></em> may seem to offer countervailing advice, but its title comes from how leaders wait to take care of themselves, giving their people priority. The converse is true when it comes to doing the work. </p><p>When you're trying to escape a tyrant or facing various plagues, you need hope. Moses inspired his people, again and again, such as instructing them to mark lamb's blood over their doors to protect their firstborn. When leading his people through the desert, he told stories about the Promised Land and what awaited them at the end of their journey.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><em>Leaders provide hope by focusing positive energy on encouragement, inspiration, and enthusiasm</em>.</h3><p>Consider another fundamental difference between a boss and a leader: a boss is a subject matter expert while a leader is an expert in managing people. So often, we see subject-matter experts and bureaucrats promoted to leadership positions, when they could benefit from more people skills. (More on this in in next week's update).<br /><br /></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%checkout_url%%","text":"Subscribe now","class":null}" style="text-align: center;"><a class="button primary" href="%%checkout_url%%">Subscribe now</a><br /><br /></p><p>Moses saw his people defy the first commandment and worship a golden calf. An angry God was ready to exact vengeance on them, but Moses didn't hew to the technicalities at hand; he stood up for his people — reminding God their were His people too — and sought forgiveness. Moses ended up taking responsibility for their actions.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><em>Leaders put their focus on their people</em>.</h3><p>When you've demonstrated to your people that you're in it with them, have given them hope, and put them first, they'll move mountains for you.</p><p>Look at where we are with mask wearing during the pandemic, for example. We've seen countless examples of people in public places who throw tantrums because places of business are requiring them to wear masks. They don't want to have to listen to authority and they claim their Constitutional rights are being violated.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><h4>[<strong>Aside</strong>: <em>I thought <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/p/individualism-has-no-place-in-a-pandemic-915" target="_blank">we covered this in March</a>. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, which predates the Constitution. Life comes first. Not Liberty. Not Happiness. Life. And when your Liberty impacts my Life, you need to rethink things. Please, wear a mask.</em>]</h4><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>But maybe we've been going about this insistence on mask wearing the wrong way. Maybe we need to adhere to those three precepts of leadership:</p><p>There's no consistency in leaders <strong>going first</strong> by wearing masks. The simple gesture of wearing a mask would send a powerful message to the public.</p><p>Leaders in some states with spiking cases and hospitalizations haven't been providing <strong>hope</strong>. They've been ignoring the reality of the disease and selling false hope of reopening as if nothing has happened. This is difficult, because it's hard to make a case for hope out of what <em>didn't</em> happen. Perhaps we need to rely on something like this report from Goldman Sachs that says <a href="http://on.forbes.com/6013GPYcS" target="_blank">a national mask mandate could save the U.S. economy $1 trillion</a>. That's hopeful.</p><p>Naïvely, I thought we were <strong>putting people first</strong> when the message was that masks protect <em>other people</em>. Sadly, we may need to flip that, to align with how people are acting more selfishly, and tell them that masks protect <em>them</em>. It's a sorry state of affairs when you can't rely on empathy and compassion to convince people to do the right thing.<br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p>One final example on movements and believing: in fact, it's the very story that caused me to consider this topic.</p><p>The president held a rally in Tulsa the weekend before last, and his campaign chief was seen on social media in the days leading up to the event, bragging about 1,000,000 tickets that the public had reserved for the event. You know how the story ended: with an anemic turnout.</p><p>Aside from the entire population of Tulsa being 400,000 people, people were scratching their heads about how the calculation could have been so far off. It turns out <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank">Tik Tok fans and K-pop stans took credit for reserving tens of thousands of tickets</a>, effectively sticking their finger in the eye of the establishment.</p><p>Such was the example of a grassroots-led movement that was popular enough and gained enough traction in a short period of time to make a difference.</p><p>Whether a movement is sparked by a leader, a group, or an idea, it's the vision for what's possible and the associated emotions that help drive success.</p><p>Without those, it's inertia.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><br />Credit for the three truths of leadership goes to </em><a href="https://amzn.to/2Y83wyA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Greats on Leadership: Classic Wisdom for Modern Managers</a><em> by Jocelyn Davis<br /><br /></em></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">This originally appeared in the July 1 issue of the <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Timeless & Timely</a> newsletter. What are you missing? To see this issue in its entirety, with entertaining and thoughtful links, recommendations, and more, <a href="https://scottmonty.substack.com/p/what-it-takes-to-start-a-movement" style="color: #280170; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">please click here</a></i><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;">. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"></span><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;" /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Don't miss a single issue:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://scottmonty.substack.com/embed" style="max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>

What It Takes to Start a Movement

Moses Draws Water from the Rock by Francois Perrier, 1642 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons) "He will win whose army is animated by t...

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