Know Thyself & Pick the Right Pond

Know Thyself & Pick the Right Pond

 

“Know thyself and pick the right pond,” is a quotation from a book, 

“Barking Up The Wrong Tree,” written by Erick Barker, more precisely from chapter 1. 

Searching for the most effective way to become successful in life, 

the first approach the author discussed is “playing safe.” 

What is “playing safe” in the first place? 

It means complying with the rules and norms of society.

As a result, you strive to be generally good or very good in most of areas in which you engage,

like being an A-student, or even a valedictorian at school.

Simply speaking, “playing safe” aims to possess and develop qualities

which belong to the middle of the bell curve,

precisely areas from the part above average to right before the right extreme of the bell curve.

Thus, people who play safe could be generalists. 

Let’s suppose you have traits which belong to the two extremes of the curve. 

Then, you end up having superb ability and great limitation at the same time. 

With the former, you can accomplish great success, but with the latter success cannot be yours. 

This definitely doesn’t sound positive. 

Considering this, you might think “playing safe” is a lot safer and better way to succeed.

Still, is this true?

According to the author, the answer is not always....

since the strategy of “playing safe” has major setbacks,

one of which is applying it can make you become good enough in your study or work,

but it never lets you become great.

Also, there is another trick related to having traits and qualities

at the two extremes of the bell curve, namely excellent and worst ones.

Of course, your concern lies in the worst traits and qualities,

which hinders you from making great achievements.

 

However, the author claims that such worst traits and qualities can be your greatest strength.

Really? What promotes such changes?

According to the author, “Context makes the difference.”

He discussed the case of Glenn Gould, one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century,

to demonstrate why being in the right environment matters.

Gould was an extremely obsessive person, even as a child.

Yet, fortunate to him, his parents dedicated their lives to let him thrive.

Thanks to their dedication, Gould could be brought up in the right environment

that made his talents blossom and that also helped his seemingly weird obsessiveness

to become his greatest strength as a superb pianist.

While further dealing with the right environment, 

the author divided people into three groups, “dandelions, orchids and hopeful monsters”. 

“Dandelions” are most people who grow up well in most environments. 

“Orchids” are a lot more sensitive to their surroundings when compared to “dandelions,” 

so they are more vulnerable and likely to die out without proper care.

However, being well treated, “orchids” will thrive and their sublime beauty enchants people.

Now I believe you’ve got the idea about the difference between “dandelions and orchids.”

Then, what are “hopeful monsters?”

They are the ones whose genetics somewhat defies the gradual evolution process

which almost all of our genes usually undergo.

They have special traits and qualities that seem to evolve unusually rapid,

making them perfectly suited in a specific arena, but almost useless in other areas.

Michael Phelps, an American swimmer and the most decorated Olympian until now,

is the classic example of hopeful monster.

His physique and temperaments are perfectly fit for swimming, but not for any other sport.

Also, the author offers the excellent capacity of autistic people in analyzing satellite images. 

After finding out the characteristics of people in those three groups, 

namely dandelion, orchid, and hopeful monster, a question must be raised in your mind. 

Well, then what about the chance of becoming a leader for each individual of these three group? 

The author offers the answer for that question, too. 

The author states that there are two types of leaders: filtered and unfiltered. 

Filtered leaders are the ones who climbed the organizational ladder 

to advance their career until they reached the top position. 

That means the filtered leaders are already scrutinized and examined within their organizations. 

The other type of leaders, the unfiltered ones, didn’t follow such steps. 

They are the people who became entrepreneurs on their own, 

people who were given the position of leadership unexpectedly,

or people who benefit from unimaginable events in the organizations. 

With filtered leaders, there is not much surprise 

since their capabilities are well-known and predictable.

Thus, unless something major comes up, they will be successful leaders.

However, when organizations face unprecedented or unexpected crises,

they need unfiltered leaders.

The author presented Chamberlain and Churchill as examples of a filtered leader

and an unfiltered leader, respectively.   

Now what? 

Let’s go back to what the author wrote: “Know Thyself and Find the Right Pond.” 

Then, the first thing you have to do is to find out what you are:

Are you a “dandelion, orchid, or hopeful monster?” 

Whatever the answer is, the most important thing is to understand who you are. 

This also means understanding what your strength and weaknesses are.

And the next thing you do is, according to the author, to find the right pond,

meaning that you have to determine what area or organization offers you the right environment

for you to thrive and succeed with your ability. 

[From the 1st Chapter (Page 0007~0030) from “Barking Up the Wrong Tree: 

The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success is (Mostly) Wrong” 

by Eric Barker]