The Power of Belief



What are you capable of?

robert woods 3-26-14

The power of belief is one of the keys to reality creation. To be able to consciously create your ideal reality, you must believe that you already have that which you want in the present moment. - The Power of Belief - Take What You Want for Granted By Tania Kotsos

It’s not that simple. You’re asking the impossible. It can’t be done.

I once worked with a CIO for a mid-sized healthcare firm who leaned over during a meeting and whispered the words, “This is the most fearful company I’ve ever worked for.”

Now, granted, this is a company that deals in PHI (protected health information) and the fines\jail time for allowing this data to become public is quite hefty. As much as anyone he understood the ramifications around a cowboy driven environment of data handling. But that’s not what he was referring to.

Instead, he was referring to the absolute fear of failure and lack of innovation surrounding the culture of the company. He recognized that such a mindset paralyzed his employees and helped fan the flame in the corporate financial burn out that was taking place in front of him. But the culture had been set long before his tenure. The difficulty lay in championing change.

There is an evolution taking place within, not just software development circles but many flavors of business, that corporations are having a hard time adopting. The mantra of that change is, “don’t be afraid to fail because failure helps breed innovation.” The idea itself is a relief to many ears who have for years been asking for the opportunity to get their ideas in the open and be given a chance to just “try it out and see if it works” without the fear of job security. But, for equally as many years they have been hit over the head with the cult of corporate personality hammer evangelizing risk management and dire repercussions of failed ideas. It defined the culture of an entire generational workforce.

The other difficulty in the corporate adoption of this concept is simple personality. Whether due to background, upbringing, or simple genetics; there are those out there who would rather be told what to do as opposed to have to innovate to find the solution. Perhaps this is also an accountability issue.

“If I do what YOU tell me to do, and it fails, I can blame YOU. If it succeeds, it was a joint effort.”

How do we change this behavior? How do we adjust an entire corporate culture?

The quote at the top of this article highlights what is called ‘the power of belief’; the concept of placing such strong faith in the success of an outcome or idea that it’s practically successful before even followed through. Some others might simply call this self-confidence. Some people inherently display this quality, for good or for bad. It can be seen as both endearing and as arrogance depending on your perception of the person as a whole. But it’s hard to escape the fact that these people often find themselves successful. Is it because they are smarter? No. Because they are given more opportunities? Not always, but in some cases they will be given more because of the aura of success they display.

From the individual standpoint, this power of belief will often cause them to work much harder towards the successful outcome of their idea. They are so convinced it will work, they nearly exhaust themselves proving it. Whereas the less convinced person, without this belief, will be willing to give up on their idea much faster, doing so with a heavy “I didn’t think this would work” sigh.

Within a corporate culture, this change in attitude can come from many levels but the most successful adoptions have come from the absolute leadership. Make no mistake, corporate culture is primarily driven from the top down. If you’ve ever read ESPN.com’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback by Greg Easterbrook, you will have heard him often refer to football coaches who are not playing to win; they are playing not to lose. There’s a difference. The ones playing to win are the ones willing to take calculated risks and willing to allow failure if it doesn’t work out. They are also wililng to take whatever heat comes from the failure. The ones playing not to lose simply stick to the status quo so, if/when they lose, no one can say they deviated from the norm.

Executive leadership has the same effect. There are those playing to win and those playing not to lose. Easterbrook notes that the winning percentage of coaches playing to win is considerably greater than that of those playing not to lose. Additionally, they are considered innovators and geniuses; respected by their teams for being willing to take a chance.

Culture starts from the top. If we give our employees the perception that jobs will be had for failed innovation, you won’t get ANY innovation. It’s that simple.

But, as leadership, if we evangelize and follow through on the culture that innovation (especially failed) will be recognized and rewarded, we are changing the mindset of the individual from one of fear to one of opportunity. We are starting to plant the power of belief seed. But you can't just say "don't be afraid to fail". You have to act on it and set the example.

As an individual, once that culture has been marketed, it’s now time to take advantage. Plenty of people sit around talking about their great ideas; few follow through. Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

But you have to start somewhere.

We spoke above about those who feel so strongly about their ideas that they refuse to give up on its success. Isn’t that what Edison was saying in a nutshell? You can’t force someone to believe in themselves or their ideas. That power of belief is like a rose garden; if you try and force it, you’ll never get it. But, if you give it the right environment for success, feed it and nurture it, the results will astound you.

The point is this...that CIO eventually left the company. He was a single voice for a changed culture singing in a room full of fearful risk-adverse opera singers and it pained him to see the results. But he was on the right track.

I have also had the pleasure to work for another CIO who lives, breathes and eats this power of belief mindset. He encourages trying new things and rewards people for putting their neck out there, regardless of outcome. All he asks is that we learn from any perceived failure and consider it an opportunity for improvement. Has this changed the individual mindset of everyone under his watch? Of course not. Sometimes it’s simply genetics. But the environment for success is there. The rose garden is in place. Perhaps through nurturing, we can help these folks to blossom.

He will hear it’s not that simple, you’re asking the impossible or it can’t be done.

Perhaps

But we’ll learn, adapt and try again. Just believe...