FEATURESTRATEGY / BROKER EDUCATION BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE
WHY FEARLESSNESS OFTEN LEADS TO FAILURE In this extract from their book Selfish, Scared & Stupid, Dan Gregory and Kieran Flanagan reveal how being fearless – while idealised to a great extent – can lead to sloppy mistakes and poor decisions
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, the headlines and accolades have always belonged to the fearless. We celebrate the heroic souls who dismiss personal safety and stride forth into the fray against odds that seem insurmountable. St George and the dragon, Jason and the Argonauts, Odin and the Frost Giants. Almost every culture has its myths and legends lionising bravery and self-sacrifice. Australians, too, have a history of finding national cohesiveness in some pretty catastrophic military losses – Gallipoli the most obvious. So, what is it that we find so enticing about bravery and fearlessness when most of us in reality prefer lives of relative safety and comfort? Certainly, part of it has its origins in our evolutionary history – adrenaline in the correct doses is a highly addictive substance, hence our obsession with horror films and roller coasters. However, one of the more significant reasons the fearless are so admired is that they very much represent the outliers in the human experience. Few of us regularly seek out truly risky situations. For instance, most of us prefer job security to the unknown of the entrepreneurial lifestyle, and though many of us do travel, most prefer to settle within a short drive from where we grew up. We are
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also mostly inclined to base our judgment on past experience rather than to speculate with the new, however compelling. In truth, we love to look at the adventurous road, but mostly from the comfort of the safe path. But is this such a bad thing? Can fear be a factor in achievement? And is the favouring of heroism and persistence over contrary data and good judgment actually a formula for success or simply a way to have stories told about you in the past tense?
As is the case with many such questions, it kind of depends.
The pros and cons of fear Fear, it turns out, is actually quite a useful emotion when it is appropriately applied. An overly curious nature mixed with naivety and overconfidence can be a recipe for disaster. Sending a canary into a mine to test for the presence of gas, while cruel, is actually a pretty savvy thing to do.
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15/05/2015 8:05:56 AM