Saturday, December 8, 2018

Grit - Little Known Secret

You could have the greatest / most original ideas and thought processes in the world but to see them make an impact needs this less glamorous, critical attribute — Grit. It is not simple dogged persistence, illogical pursuits, blind obsession…
Its different from these. It is conviction , end goal orientation, learning from the setbacks on the way, not losing focus, not giving up early.
Almost everything that can go wrong, will and usually does go wrong. People cross your paths, block your progress, surprises appear, unforeseen accidents happen, plans go awry. If you encounter challenges that nobody predicted, possibly because nobody attempted what you are trying to do. Its the curse of the torch bearer.
One of the key skills most valued today is enterprenurial expreience . Why? It takes lot more than skills and knowledge to cross the known and venture into something unknown , results unpredictable and success so elusive. More than the success/failure of the enterpreneurial venture, the learnings and experiences are so priceless as no academic course can teach them. More and more of the business world today is about re-imagining because , if you dont do it, someone else will.
A key enterprenuerial attribute is Grit. As John Mackey — founder of Whole foods says, everytime someone told him his idea won't work or had unforeseen challenges, he realised that he is trying something none has done before. Many of his co-founders left the venture, his expansion plans failed, media riled him…..
“Mackey has something which 99% of all CEO’s lack: grit and [guts]. Good for him. I may even go buy something at Whole Foods! Do they sell cigarettes?” commented “Drathaeur,” referring to the August Wall Street Journal op-ed on health-care reform.
While Amazon buying Whole Foods does not vindicate him, the learning is about the little spoken quality of Grit that is an attribute thats so valuable in real world.
One more reason why Robots and Excel spreadsheets cannot create value from an algorithm!!

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