I am going to try something a little new around here. I usually just write about local startups, events, tips for startups, and so on. but every now and then I have something on my mind I want to write about. So form now on, I will use an sort of editorial page to get my thoughts out there into the tubes.
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts the other day, NoAgenda with Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak, and they were talking about an American Idol type show that Adam’s wife was a judge on in the Netherlands. Anyway soon the talk turned to how our society has turned losing into a taboo subject. John mentioned something that struck me as true when I thought about it. After the major sporting events, like the SuperBowl, the World Series, and so on, they kind of stopped the practice of going into the losing teams locker room. Its like the networks don’t want people to see the losing side for some reason.
So then later that day I was reading a post over at Micah’s Learn to Duck blog about realizing you suck at something and doing something about it. He states that in America
society teaches us that failure is not an option. We must persevere. We must overcome. The American Hero archetype is one that succeeds against all odds.
He also says that on some level it is important to figure out that you do suck at something and then to use that to make your self better at it.
These two points are kind of important to see and realize what is happening. Now Micah says that as Americans failure is not an option, but we need failure. We need to see the losing side of the ballgame. This is how we learn those emotions and battle to never feel them again. In the paraphrased words of Gordon Gecko in Wall Street, “Losing, for lack of a better word, is good”. When I was a kid playing Little League baseball, I lost a lot, and learned to hate to lose. That hatred in some sense is what drives us to succeed.
However, barring those stupid ass reality shows where people get voted off to the glee of millions, our society is very close to not know the feeling of “losing”. Sports and other competitions have become that of two winners, everyone is a winner these days. Everyone gets a trophy whether you win or lose. What is the lesson in that ? Now don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those crazed parents that scream at other parents, but I think our children need to learn the other side of winning. As it stands right now, they do not and all I see is a constant sense of entitlement.
That is what is great about losing, in a sadistic fashion I suppose, is that we learn from it. When I lost at baseball, I practiced harder, when people who are entrepreneurs truly fail, they learn from the experience and apply the lessons the next time. Look at our current situation with the auto industry. They have been functioning for decades with their heads in the sand, executives and labor unions alike working with that sense of entitlement, while neglecting to see the losing side. If GM posted a multi billion dollar loss, the executives still got their bonuses and the union workers still got their yearly raises. They never lost, just the poor stockholders … And now look whats is happening, the government is acting like the little league ball coach and telling them that it is okay to lose, and as your trophy here is a few billion dollars. I understand that this is an overly simplistic view and their are many more complexities involved here, but on some level I think they need to feel the loss, learn the lesson and strive to win.
The lesson? Losing is, in fact, not a bad thing. Loss and the realization of your shortcomings, or as Micah states, what you suck at, are vital to learning and applying those lessons to become a winner. Everyone does not always have to get a trophy.
