Some of the facts below I have taken from an article of the Wirtschafts Woche (A leading German business magazine) No 37/2011, followed by my own conclusions.
Mark Hurd earned as CEO of HP US$ 82 000 per day. A few weeks ago he retired because of a wrong expense claim of US$ 20 000. The apparent reason was that he wanted to cover up a relationship with an actress. At the same time he, a family man as well, delegated his 300 000 staff frequently to seminars teaching business ethics. Ooops!
Mark Hurd earned as CEO of HP US$ 82 000 per day. A few weeks ago he retired because of a wrong expense claim of US$ 20 000. The apparent reason was that he wanted to cover up a relationship with an actress. At the same time he, a family man as well, delegated his 300 000 staff frequently to seminars teaching business ethics. Ooops!
You may recall many more cases where very smart and successful people do pretty odd things leading to there downfall. Why do people do this?
It all starts with the fact that most of us overestimate ourselves. Ask people and yourself ‘How do you judge your performance?’ or ‘Do you think that you are a better than average driver?’ You will find that the vast majority will say that they are better than average. This is, of course, not correct as technically only 50% can be better than average and 50% must be worse than average.
Why does this happen? Apparently it is part of our survival instinct. We only want to take on a job when we think that we can do it well, or start an education program, if we believe that we can pass the exam well. Otherwise, we wouldn’t start. Nobody wants to start something with the feeling that she/he will fail. So, that is fine.
The ‘trouble’ starts when we achieve a certain degree of success. Reinforcing factors can be that, with increasing success, we obtain more power (e.g. a higher rank), money, and experience, more admiration. Now, since we are so successful, the risk is increasing that we become over-confident and think that we can ‘walk on clouds’. And, that we know, we can’t.
So, I came up with a few ‘check-points’, just to make sure that we stay well grounded. If you think that way, just think about it one more time.
- My performance is very good; I can’t see how it can be done better.
- I know my business better than anybody else.
- My project failed, but I blame others and circumstances for the failure, not me.
- Can’t benefit from feedback or criticism.
- I analyse a situation and accept the facts which support my view, ignore the rest.
- I stop to listen and learn from other people’s opinion.
- I know exactly how my business will be conducted in future.
Obviously, I don't claim that I can escape from such influences all the time, but I can personally also provide a positive example. Every year-end I spend about 2 weeks on improving my seminars as I keep telling my clients: ‘The moment I tell you that my seminars are perfect and cannot be improved anymore, fire me!’
It all starts with the fact that most of us overestimate ourselves. Ask people and yourself ‘How do you judge your performance?’ or ‘Do you think that you are a better than average driver?’ You will find that the vast majority will say that they are better than average. This is, of course, not correct as technically only 50% can be better than average and 50% must be worse than average.
Why does this happen? Apparently it is part of our survival instinct. We only want to take on a job when we think that we can do it well, or start an education program, if we believe that we can pass the exam well. Otherwise, we wouldn’t start. Nobody wants to start something with the feeling that she/he will fail. So, that is fine.
The ‘trouble’ starts when we achieve a certain degree of success. Reinforcing factors can be that, with increasing success, we obtain more power (e.g. a higher rank), money, and experience, more admiration. Now, since we are so successful, the risk is increasing that we become over-confident and think that we can ‘walk on clouds’. And, that we know, we can’t.
So, I came up with a few ‘check-points’, just to make sure that we stay well grounded. If you think that way, just think about it one more time.
- My performance is very good; I can’t see how it can be done better.
- I know my business better than anybody else.
- My project failed, but I blame others and circumstances for the failure, not me.
- Can’t benefit from feedback or criticism.
- I analyse a situation and accept the facts which support my view, ignore the rest.
- I stop to listen and learn from other people’s opinion.
- I know exactly how my business will be conducted in future.
Obviously, I don't claim that I can escape from such influences all the time, but I can personally also provide a positive example. Every year-end I spend about 2 weeks on improving my seminars as I keep telling my clients: ‘The moment I tell you that my seminars are perfect and cannot be improved anymore, fire me!’
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