Predicting Success

Predicting Success

“William Glasser: “We learn 10 percent of what we read, 20 percent of what we hear, 30 percent of what we see, 50 percent of what we see and hear, 70 percent of what we discuss, 80 percent of what we experience, and 95 percent of what we teach others.”
― Bill Capodagli, The Disney Way, Revised Edition: Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

There are so many things I love about that movie and in a roundabout way I have found something new to appreciate.

How can you help but cheer for the entire Incredibles family, but understanding the four competencies that have proven to be the greatest predictors for sustained success, I have a greater respect for one of the instruments of destruction created by Buddy or, as he called himself, Syndrome. The machine was the Omnidroid of the Kronos Project.

Quoting the 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership once again.

“Current research shows that over the course of our career, four competencies trump all others as the greatest predictors of sustained success: self-awareness, learning agility, communication, and influence. The last two deal with how leaders interact with their world, and the first two address leaders’ internal relationships to ‘reality.’ “

If you are getting anything as a member of my general inner circle, Friend, it is self-awareness. Not a day goes by that I am not addressing self-awareness in some way. In messages past and those to come you will notice themes of “communication” and “influence” emerging and an overall emphasis on emotional intelligence.

Today, let’s talk about the “F” word.

Flexibility

One of the great messages of The Incredibles is transformation. What brilliance on the part of Disney’s Imagineers to connect to the desire in each of us to experience a life that is better than our current reality. Buddy goes from a wannabe superhero to a self-made super. The Incredible family transforms from a dysfunctional brood to a tightly-knit powerhouse, and each of them has their of story of personal growth and moving into their greatness.

I had no problem connecting with Mr. Incredibles internal struggle with having gone from greatness to mediocrity. But look at the gift his enemy gave him – a robot with learning agility. Because Syndrome had the insight to create a machine that takes feedback from its environment and processes it to become something more equipped to achieve its goal, so too does Mr. Incredible increase his flexibility both physically, mentally and emotionally.

The key ingredient to Mr. Incredible’s victory over the Omnidroid and his victories on the home front was his learning agility. He didn’t sit back and expect his old tricks or past successes to win the day. Rather he opened himself to applied learning from his present experience.

Nice work Disney! 

Warmly,

Rick Burris