The human brain is wired for convenience, speed, efficiency and how to get the most done for the least effort. Individually and organizationally we are drawn to short cuts, hacks. We leverage technologies, including AI/LLMs to offload the mundane and make us more efficient. We discount/cutting our prices, because it’s easier than helping customer understand our value co-creation. We continue to do meaningless email/voice/social outreach, because it’s easier than figuring out what customers really care about and how to engage them impactfully. We wait for our customers to engage us, if they do, at the very end of the buying process, because it’s easier to talk about our products, than understanding and helping them understand their challenges. And we accept this, though knowing the majority who want to change and buy, fail, never getting to the point of engaging us.
Psychologically, it’s easy for us to pursue the path of least resistance. We get stuck in the status quo–continuing to do things the ways we have always done them, even when they don’t seem to be working as well. We tend to prioritize the here and now, the present, seeking short term results over that which might drive greater long term success. Or simply the path of least resistance–it’s just simpler even thought we may know it’s not the best choice. Finally, the sunk cost fallacy. We’ve made huge investments in training, tools, technologies, methods, processes–we don’t want to abandon them because of those investments.
We, often, have the tendency to “settle.” Even though we may be in a role where we are unhappy or not growing. Or when the effort and risk of doing something different seems too much. Or it’s simply what everyone else is doing.
However, when we look at the history of “achievement,” whether individual or organizational. Those who we hold up as examples of top performers always seem to have taken the more challenging paths. They choose these not because they are more challenging, rather they see them as a path to personal growth, meaningful progress, and achieving great things.
We see people/founders/organizations that have struggled and failed. But they have the resilience to learn from their experience, perhaps pivot, continue experimenting, find things that work. They are driven by a greater goal or sense of achievement.
I’m not suggesting these people purposefully look for that which is difficult, just because it’s difficult. Rather they are undeterred by obstacles they face, because of their vision of what’s possible. They know they have to overcome these obstacles to achieve their goals.
Some of the underlying characteristics of these people/organizations is their focus on continued learning and improvement, a drive to constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Incessant curiosity, accompanied by critical thinking/problem solving. Obsessive learning accompanied by relentless execution. The ability to make hard bets and manage risks.
While they never seek to avoid that which is difficult, they seek to be as efficient and effective as possible, in the process. They tend to move very fast–not to break things, but to find out what works. Once they do, they seek to reduce friction in replicating/scaling that which works. They eliminate needless steps seeking continued simplification in what they do.
Looking at high performing sellers, they are constantly focused on building their expertise–not in their products but in their customers, their markets, their challenges/opportunities. They focus on building deep relationships with their customers/colleagues/partners. They focus on meaningful high impact work. They are constantly challenging the status quo, looking for better ways to do things.
At the same time, they diligently remove distractions that prevent them from doing this work. They constantly streamline what they do and how they work, freeing up their time for innovation and creativity.
There is always a tension between that which is easy and good. Achievement, personal/organizational growth lies in understanding the dynamic balance between these, learning what should be easy and find the excitement in that which is hard.
It’s not about easy or difficult, it’s about recognizing the challenges inherent in achieving meaningful goals!
Afterword: Here is the AI based conversation about this post. I’m torn by what they say. There are some interesting ways in which they have positioned this, but overall, I’m not sure they really “get it.” I give it a B, possibly a B-. What do you think?
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