Don’t Aim At Success…

IMAGE SOURCE: NETFLIX

As a pragmatist, I have always had a passion for documentaries and movies that depict a true story. They speak to my perspective of reality. I seek the learning stemming from it and the emotional rollercoaster associated with the experience. After watching the “Society of the Snow” on Netflix, I got immersed in the true story of 16 survivors of a Uruguayan rugby team who managed to survive 72 days in one of the world’s harshest environments. The actors and the director allowed the viewer to live the events as if they were part of it. Consequently, I needed some time to process and reason with the story. To my surprise, I had an epiphany. A sudden manifestation of the reality we live in and the challenges we face.

I realized that we should not aim for success. The more we fixate on it as a goal, the more elusive it becomes. Success, much like happiness, cannot be actively pursued; rather, it naturally follows and unfolds as an unintended consequence. Many professionals advocate for cultivating optimism and concentrating on the positive. However, I take a different stance: being optimistic doesn’t always guarantee success. Nevertheless, what renders success attainable is embracing uncertainty. The narrative of the Society of the Snow illustrates that life is not solely determined by the cards one is dealt but by how they play their hand. The 16 survivors successfully returned home because they opted to embrace uncertainty and overcome their fears of the unknown. They had to conquer the fear of hunger, loneliness, and death. They did so by taking action!

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Frequently in business, we encounter similar challenges and fears, not in the same scale and intensity, but metaphorically. The typical reaction is to address the issue promptly. However, the urgency and time constraints often lead to panic, widening the gap between our current reality and our desired position. I understand that organizations may not always be adequately equipped and ready to address unexpected events. However, The Society of the Snow story demonstrates that it is acceptable not to have immediate solutions. Contrarily, a surprising challenge, when assessed thoroughly, can catalyze the next breakthrough. On that premise, we ask ourselves: How can we effectively navigate adversity and emerge victorious?

In light of this story, here are five steps for managing and triumphing over adversity:

1 — No one is going to rescue you. You save yourself!

Ten days after the crash, 33 out of the original 45 passengers remained alive. Rescue operations persisted until that crucial ten-day mark. It was at this point that the survivors, listening to the plane’s transistor radio, learned search efforts had been terminated, ending any immediate hopes of rescue. This precise moment marked the inflection point for a shift in events. The survivors recognized the necessity for a plan, understanding that waiting equated to death.

With that in mind, how often do we place our hopes on external forces to change our situation? We rarely realize that our environment responds to the actions we put forth. Reality is not rigid. It is very fluid. Yet, waiting for circumstances to change is not a viable option; instead, we must actively influence change. How can we achieve this? Well, we try, experiment, and persist until a successful strategy prevails. The fear of failure often paralyzes us into inaction, not recognizing that refraining from trying is a form of death. There is no risk-free environment for trial and error; there’s only the courage to try. This embodies the essence of innovation — progressing despite setbacks. With each attempt, we move closer to perfection.

2 — Embrace uncertainty

In times of uncertainty, when reliable data are scarce, leaders might find that the best way forward is to act first and decide later. After realizing that no one was coming to their rescue, the survivors acknowledged the inherent unpredictability of the environment they were stranded in, situated 15,000 feet high. Consequently, rather than deciding to act, they acted to decide understanding that action itself would shape their subsequent decisions.

Instead of committing to one “best” option based on available data (Climb down to Chile, fix the emergency transmitter, wait for rescue), they invested their efforts in trying all three scenarios. This helped improve their understanding of the current situation and fostered the discovery and development of all the possibilities available to them. But, what does that entail? It indicates that as our understanding improves, some of the options may wither and fall away. Others could crystalize, evolving from mere possibilities to tangible realities, progressing from a good idea to being the next logical step. At this point, when the obvious choice sits in front of us, we can decide and commit.

The possible difficulty that many leaders have in acting to decide is managing their tolerance for uncertainty. The solution could be to change one’s predilection for uncertainty: To foster attitudes and behaviors that enable one to effectively engage with and manage the many uncertainties and unknowns that are inherent in our current environment, rather than to ignore or hide from them. Comfort with ambiguity can come from the confidence that one knows how to engage with it. Productively engaging with ambiguity often requires balancing our bias for committing to a single course of action with a bias for learning and exploration — taking smaller actions to determine the best way forward. In this approach, success can come from the ability to understand the environment we operate in, anticipate possibilities, and pivot toward opportunities and around challenges as they arise. In this way, uncertainty is something leaders should embrace, a source of ideas and opportunities, a well of creativity and innovation, rather than something to avoid.

3 — Take action

Business has a bias for action — a propensity to commit to the “best” opportunity. In the same way, survival has a bias for action. Whatever the path for action is, it yields a higher success rate than protecting the status quo will.

Uninformed about the ramifications of their chosen course of action, the survivors, resolved to make a change, began experimenting with different scenarios. Advancing towards the resolution was the singular recourse to escape the misery. First, they tried waiting for rescue but with no success. After, they attempted to reach the location of the emergency transmitter on several occasions before finally succeeding. Yet, their efforts to repair it proved unproductive. At that point, it was evident they would need to find help themselves. On day 61 after the crash, two of the survivors set off for what they thought was a relatively short journey — about 3 miles, over the peak of the mountain and into the valleys of Chile. After they reached the summit, they found more mountains as far as the eye could see. In the end, they ultimately undertook a perilous and frigid 10-day hike to reach the inhabited land and call for help.

In the face of uncertainty, taking action comes in the form of scenario building. Planning scenarios help organizations identify warnings that can trigger strategic pivots or risk mitigation strategies, meaning both opportunities and risks are taken into consideration in planning and decision-making. Such planning is not about making predictions, but rather about envisioning various futures and considering implementing those strategies in the present day, which is the action itself.

4 — Change is inevitable: Survival is a question of mental toughness

The initial disaster strikes everyone equally, but after that, survival is a mind thing, it’s a question of mental toughness. In the business context, this is often referred to as resilience. Resilience serves a higher function and value. In essence, it involves overcoming self-limiting thoughts and paradigms, elevating ourselves to our utmost potential, and realizing leadership at its most influential and magnetic level. This is the path of self-transcendence.

In the aftermath of the plane crash, a leader emerged. That person was the rugby team captain. He guided the survivors through the initial 10 days, ensuring they had food and shelter. As the days passed, he found himself unable to think innovatively. He resorted to his conventional methods, which no longer had a viable space to thrive. Here, his resilience was tested. After a span of two weeks, the survivors had gone without food for over 10 days. Faced with no other recourse, the only option left was to consume the remains of their friends and family for survival (Cannibalism). Constrained by his religious and personal convictions, the captain could not endorse such actions. This marked the emergence of another leader. Ultimately, it was this individual who guided them back home in the end.

The personal realm is the domain of self-awareness and self-mastery. Within this realm lie the core resilience conditions of mental and emotional agility, realistic optimism, and meaning through character strengths. In other words, it involves practicing wise self-control and harmonizing one’s life and work with one’s profound and most authentic values. Our emotions, responses, actions, and results are not dictated by the events in life and work; rather, it is the narratives we construct about those events that shape our experiences.

5 — Find your why!

Four decades following the incident, one of the survivors recalled the accident and pondered: “Who were we on that mountain?” This question carried profound significance, highlighting the transformative nature of their survival. It underscored the character traits required to navigate obstacles and withstand the immense psychological toll of the ordeal. On that mountain, the survivors needed to find meaning in their suffering. One individual, who tragically did not reach the end of the journey, expressed that his suffering was endured so that his companions could secure their survival. That was his why! Catastrophe does not change you but reveals who you really are.

Understanding your purpose serves as the cornerstone for a successful journey. It equips you with the necessary tools to confront your challenges and steers you back on course when faced with adversity. On an organizational level, purpose establishes a structural framework for consistently and proactively making strategic choices and investments that align with the organization’s core values and aspirations. Answering the ‘why’ question cannot come first. The pre-requisite to that question lies in engaging in experimentation, which will ultimately reveal how we can contribute and add value to our environment. That is when we discover our ‘true’ why.

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Our emotions, responses, actions, and results are not dictated by the events in life and work; rather, it is the narratives we construct about those events that shape our experiences.

Navigating and surviving uncertainty successfully requires unconventional thinking and adaptability. It’s crucial to perceive the organization holistically and as a living organism. Risks must also be understood as opportunities that can be optimized or exploited. Recognizing the interconnectedness of risks — like wildfires, they cross boundaries and must be managed accordingly.

Success is not a status or designation that can be attained and then enjoyed even more. Instead, it involves consistently adapting in the face of uncertainty and amidst chaos. Success is not a destination in itself but a way of doing business — a developmental journey rather than a finite objective. Similarly, the perspective on success should be a continuous and sustainable organizational practice, not just a temporary endeavor.

At last, isn’t it so miraculous to know that all the decisions and responses to adversity made by the survivors originated from within? They had no prior experience in such challenging situations. Doesn’t this demonstrate that we are inherently equipped to confront adversity and that the limitations we perceive are often self-imposed constructs of the mind? In the end, we are all survivors. Every day that ends is a day survived.