For Beowulf, Nothing Failed Like Success

In my freshman year of college, I enrolled in English Literature 101. On the first day of class, the teacher stood behind the podium and began reading the epic tale of Beowulf. I listened, but in vain; I couldn't grasp a thing she was saying. And, as soon as the two hours of that initial class period had passed, I headed to the office and dropped the class. I tried not to even think of Beowulf after that.

That all changed on a sunny St. Patrick's Day a few years ago when real-life wizard Brian Bates appeared at The Masters Forum, and told the story of Beowulf in words that even I could understand.

A little about Brian. He teaches psychology at the University of Brighton, directs the Shaman Research Program at the University of Sussex, and is an adviser to the Ford Foundation's project on worldwide indigenous wisdom. He is the author of several books including: The Way of Wyrd and The Real Middle Earth.

Back to Beowulf. Here's the story as I now understand it:

A monster named Grendel was attacking the castle of King Hrothgar of Denmark each night, killing and devouring his soldiers and guests. No one could stop him.

A great warrior from afar, Beowulf, hears of the king's plight and comes to the rescue. He succeeds in slaying the monster.

It turns out, though, that the monster has a nasty ol' mother who rears up out of her swamp and takes over where Grendel left off. Beowulf takes out the mother as well. Hrothgar is forever grateful.

Beowulf returns to his own people, the Geats. He serves them well; becomes their king.

Fifty winters pass. Beowulf has grown old.

One day, an evil dragon shows up and begins to beat on the Geats. Beowulf decides that he - and he alone - will slay the dragon.

Beowulf preps for battle. As he heads out to meet the dragon, he asks 12 of his warriors to join him. He gives them a direct order to stay out of the battle.

The battle rages. Beowulf is getting his ass handed to him. His warriors can see he needs help, but they have no idea what to do; besides they are scared witless. They head for the hills. Well, at least 11 of them do. The 12th, Wiglaf, decides to help the old man out. He does it by rushing in and distracting the dragon just long enough for Beowulf to strike a killing blow. The dragon goes down for the count. Minutes later, it's lights out for Beowulf as well.

There are several lessons to be learned here for accomplished leaders and high achievers of all stripes.

Conversation:

• Why do you think Beowulf decided to face the dragon by himself? Have you ever done the same in some instance in your work or life? Is it typical of you?
• Do you think he considered the possibility he would die? Why or why not? Do you consider the possibility of failing when you decide to go it alone?
• The story says Beowulf invited a few of his warriors to come along for the ride, but only to observe. Why? Have you ever done the same?
• The warriors didn't rush to rescue Beowulf when he got into trouble. In fact, 11 of 12 turned tail and ran. The story says they fled because they didn't know what to do to help. This suggests that Beowulf had not mentally or physically prepared his warriors to fight such a battle. Why do you suppose he failed to do so? How about you? Are you truly developing your subordinates, or merely entertaining them with your brilliance? Explain.
• Nothing fails like success is an old saying. How do you interpret it in light of this story? How do you interpret it in terms of your own life and work?
  

Afterwords:

"Often when one man follows his own will many are hurt." - Wiglaf

"The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings." - Okakura Kakuzo, author

"It seldom happens that a man changes his life through his habitual reasoning. No matter how fully he may sense the new plans and aims revealed to him by reason, he continues to plod along in old paths until his life becomes frustrating and unbearable. He finally makes the change only when his usual life can no longer be tolerated." - Leo Tolstoy

"People hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest." - Simon & Garfunkel, The Boxer

"Firefighters are most likely to get killed or injured in their 10th year on the job, when they think they've seen pretty much everything there is to see on the fires. They become less open to new information that would allow them to update their models." - Karl Weick, Wired, April, 2004

Jim Collins Is Curious George

I interviewed Jim Collins - author of the best-selling books Built to Last and Good to Great - after a Masters Forum session and asked him what drove him to put several years of research into writing each of his books. This was his answer:

"The ultimate driving force is curiosity and contribution. And the curiosity part really ties into this notion of what we jokingly call the Chimp. Be like Curious George, start with a question and look under the yellow hat to find what's there. To see, to truly understand, and go 'Ooh, that's really interesting.' And then second, to make a lasting contribution."

I might add that instead of doing research, writing books, and giving lectures to make enough money to live the good life, Jim writes books and gives lectures to fund his next research project and make his next contribution.

Two years after Built to Last became a best-seller, Jim was asked a question - by a management consultant during a dinner in San Francisco - that spawned Good to Great:

"What advice do you have for mediocre companies that want to dramatically improve themselves? Are they doomed forever to second-class performance?"

Jim rephrased the question slightly:

"How can I help people and companies go from mere goodness to greatness?"

And, set out to find the answer.

First, he set up a research lab in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Incidentally, the lab is housed in the same building where he attended grammar school and his conference room is his old first-grade classroom.

Then, he assembled a research team - made up of young graduate students from the University of Colorado - to walk with him on what turned out to be a five-year journey to answer his question. But, he didn't simply pick the first warm bodies that showed up on his doorstep; he chose bold, curious students - like himself - who wouldn't settle for just any answers. The team he chose took on the name Chimps, because of Jim's chimpanzee-like ways. And, it wasn't long before pictures of Curious George began to show up around the lab. In total, some 20 Chimps worked on the project at a rate of four or five a year. Their work involved: analyzing stocks, conducting interviews, collecting and coding articles, and fact checking numbers in the book. They were - to a person - fully and passionately committed to the idea of greatness. They were - as a team - willing to take full responsibility for the conclusions they drew from their research.

In addition to curiosity, Jim was looking some other characteristics in the people he hired to be Chimps. They had to be:

• Smart
  
• Willing to death march
  
• Genetically encoded to be irreverent
  
• Willing to tell him when he was wrong

Conversation:

• Which, if any, of the five traits Collins looked for are also important to you? Why?
  
• If any, some, or all of them are important to you, how are you making sure this is accounted for in your recruiting and selection process?
  
• If you are able to find and hire people who possess the traits you say are important, are you capable of leading and retaining them? Are you sure?
  
• If not, what can you do to either develop the necessary capabilities, or make sure you are not hiring people you can't keep?

Afterwords:

"Curiosity, especially intellectual inquisitiveness, is what separates the truly alive from those who are merely going through the motions." - Tom Robbins

"Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity." - Albert Einstein

"An accident is perhaps the only thing that really inspires us. A composer improvises aimlessly the way an animal grubs about. Both of them go grubbing about because they yield to a compulsion to seek things out." Igor Stravinski, Poetics of Music

"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking;" - Leo Tolstoy

Simple Wisdom for Complex Times

I found the following statement on Tom Peters' website. These are Tom's words; he's talking about the task of supervising others:

"The great secret to people excellence is treat people with manifest respect and appreciation and trust, and give them a chance to express the best in themselves and dramatically broaden their horizons."

I've always admired Tom and deeply shared his views on various and sundry things. He prefers the simple as opposed to the complex, action over theory, and plain-talk over typical business vernacular. He is direct. He says what he has to say - like it or not; he doesn't tap-dance. What I resonant with most, though, and have tried my best to emulate, is his willingness to wander far and wide to find ideas from other disciplines and show how they can be applied in a business context.

In this spirit, I want to share a poem I found recently on a blog I visit on a regular basis. The blog is written by Angela Meiers, a former teacher who spends her time these days working as an independent consultant dedicated and committed to helping the Department of Education's schools, districts and teachers reach their goals in literacy and literacy education. The poem was written by Angela and is titled Promises. And, if you simply substitute the word boss for teacher, I think you'll find it to be a meaningful way to understand the kind of relationship most of us would like to have with the person to whom we report:

Dear Teacher,

Love me,
Make me feel special,
Make me feel included,
Make me feel valued,

Smile for me,
Tell me that you’re happy to see me,
Tell me that you’re happy to teach me,
Tell me that you’re happy I am here.

Involve me,
Tell me about our work together
Tell me how I can be of help and mean it genuinely

Notice me,
See all of me,
See my emotions, my laughter, my curiosity, my anticipation
See my right, and I will work on the “wrongs”

Teach me,
PLEEZE don’t just tell me what you know
Show me what I need to know,
Show me how to do it well

Help Me,
Help me when it gets hard,
Help me persevere,
Help me know it matters

Excite Me,
I came to you in love with learning
Keep me excited!
Show me the fun
Show me your fire and passion

Promise Me,
Promise me that you can.
Promise me that you will.
Promise me that you are ready to…

Love me, help me, engage me, excite me, and teach me
I'm Ready
I want to learn.
I want to know.
I want to be your student.

I PROMISE
I will return the favor
I will reward you with my attention, my focus, my heart
I will show you what I can do
I will show you who I can be

PROMISE ME?

Conversation:

• Can you tell a story of a teacher, coach or someone else outside your immediate family who treated you in the way expressed in the poem? What is the lasting impact your relationship with that person has had on your life?
  
• Can you see the poem as a summary of what you might be looking for in a supervisor? Have you ever worked for someone that treated you in this way? What stories can you tell about the effect that supervisor had on your life's journey?
  
• What other words besides boss can you substitute for teacher? Explain.
• Can you move way out to the edge and see the poem as a request a customer might make of a supplier? In other words, can you see a business-to-business application?
  

Afterwords:

"The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The more we live by our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life." - Leo Tolstoy

"One brief way of describing the change which has taken place, in me, is to say that in my early professional years I was asking the question: 'How can I treat, or cure, or change this person?' Now I would phrase the question in this way: 'How can I provide a relationship, which this person may use for his own personal growth?'" - Carl Rogers, psychologist

"If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever." - Saint Paul, Letter to the Corinthians