Success

Success
Theory andPractice
Michael Edmondson

Success: Theory and Practice

Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2016
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First published in 2016 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
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Dedication
To Scott Edmondson, Lisa Pfeiffer Jones and Kathy Kitchener

Advanced Quotes
for Success: Theory
andPractice
Michael Edmondson has written the handbook for those striving to succeed
in the new millennium. Instead of a run-of-the-mill self-help book, Success:
Theory and Practice connects the science, philosophy, and habits that drive
individuals to success in todays marketplace. Success isnt a secret, and this
book offers a roadmap for anyone willing to take on the challenge.
Adam Cirucci
Political Consultant and Journalist
Michael connects the dots in his book Success: Theory and Practice where
the rubber meets the road with his 7 Characteristics of Success. He
demonstrates the practical traits, backed up by fascinating research, to
help you unfold your own success story.
John P. Clark
CFPFinancial Advisor and Retirement Living Expert
Michael Edmonsons book is equal parts of research and vision. This is
how we do success in the 21st century: not only do we seek to improve
our lot, but also our relationships, our self-awareness, and our world.
Success is not either/or, but both/and.
Evan Harris
Co-owner of Tapas Yoga Shala
Michael Edmonsons newest book is an absolute must read for both
anyone entering the job market and those looking for growth in both their
professional and personal lives. This book is not your everyday book on
success, as it touches on the success of many, but lets you in on the mental
and emotional challenges each faced throughout the journey. As quoted
in the book from George Bernard Shaw People are always blaming their
circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The
people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for
the circumstances that they want, and if they cant find them, make them.
This book makes you want to find the circumstances you want in life.
Rocco Marrari
National Accounts Manager for EBE Technologies

viii

ADVANCED QUOTES FOR SUCCESS: THEORY ANDPRACTICE

Success: Theory and Practice is a must read for anyone who is interested
in achieving personal and professional success. Personal and professional
growth is a key to success in our careers in this ever changing environment.
Dr. Edmondson provides questions to ask ourselves periodically as a
performance temperature check along with some quizzes. He also provides
real life examples of successful individuals and traits they implemented to
achieve their success.
Robert Sauselein, CHST
Northeast Operations Manager,
HazTek, Inc.
Dr. Edmondsons writing style is clear and concise while including
research relevant to theory and the practice of success. Choosing to read
this book will challenge yourself to examine your own personal traits while
receiving applicable advice on how to engage in successful behaviors, thus
leading to personal and professional growth.
Shelly Thomas Vroman
ICU Nurse

Abstract
The genre of self-help literature, often packaged as modern philosophy,
sociology, and psychology, is a vibrant and growing $10-billion industry
in the United States alone. For hundreds of years, authors have been helping people understand how to succeed in various aspects of life, including
academics, health, finance, and love. Analogies, scientific research, autobiographies, psychological studies, and religious parables are just a few of
the common forms of literature found along the spectrum of the self-help
genre. During the last 20 years, however, the technological, digital, and information revolutions have connected billions of people around the globe
and disrupted almost every aspect of how people communicate, live, and
work. To help individuals learn how to succeed in the volatile, uncertain,
complex, and ambiguous environment, todays technological revolution
has helped individuals produce, access, and share thousands of research
findings, publications, blogs, videos, online classes, e-books, websites,
books, and other resources focused on some aspect of achieving success.
When the three billion connected people around the globe are coupled
with this hyper-production of information, an individuals cognitive capacity to process ideas is stressed and reduces the quality of decision-making.
To improve an individuals capacity to process information, the self-help
genre has a tremendous need for a publication that both summarizes the
latest research and provides case studies. Success: Theory and Practice meets
both needs and is valuable for any person interested in achieving personal
or professional success. Divided into seven chapters, this publication provides a clear, concise, and compelling account on the theory and practice of
success and includes research from history, psychology, sociology, cognitive
neuroscience, animal behavior, and other areas. A list of readings, questions, and other resources are located at the end of each chapter.

Keywords
Success, theories of success, successful people, personal development, professional development

We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after
a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort
which no one can spare us.
Marcel Proust

Why Read This Book

In 1859, Scottish author and government reformer Samuel Smiles published Self-Help. A book that promoted thrift and claimed that poverty
was caused largely by irresponsible habits, Self-Help sparked a new genre
of literature over 155 years ago that continues to grow. With chapters
on MoneyIts Use and Abuse and Application and Perseverance,
it sold 20,000 copies in 1859. By the time of Smiless death five decades later, it had sold 250,000 copies.1 The genre of self-help literature,
often packaged as modern philosophy and psychology, is a vibrant and
growing $10-billion industry in the United States alone.2 Since 1859,
authors like Smiles and hundreds of others have been helping people
understand how to succeed in various aspects of life, including academics, health, finance, and love. Any discussion of achieving personal or
professional success today, however, needs to start with the driving force
behind todays hypercompetitive global marketplacethe information
technology revolution.
Dubbed the most significant revolution of the 21st century by
Cambridge University political scientist David Runciman, the information technology revolution has altered, and will continue to alter, the very
fabric of how people work, live, love, communicate, and do just about
everything else in the twenty-first century.3 New York Times editorialist
and best-selling author Thomas Friedman echoed similar sentiment and
declared the information technology revolution the single most important trend in the world today.4 Friedman summarized the impact of this
revolution as the world went from connected to hyper-connected during
the 20002010 period thanks to cloud computing, robotics, 3G wireless
connectivity, Skype, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, the iPad, and
cheap Internet-enabled smartphones.5 Technology is even moving into
fields it previously could not handle, including intellectual and physical
jobs such as performing discovery in lawsuits or preparing and serving
hamburgers.6

xiv

WHY READ THIS BOOK

During the 10 years from 2000 to 2010, world Internet usage increased over 444 percent.7 The UNs International Telecommunication
Union observed that one-third of the worlds population, approximately
two billion people, have Internet access. Just a short 10 years ago, only
300 million people had Internet access. Of the current two billion people
with Internet access, 555 million have a fixed broadband subscription
and 950 million have mobile broadband.8 World population is expected
to grow by over a third or 2.3 billion people between 2009 and 2050. If
that occurs, by 2050 there will be a global population of approximately
9billion people.9 With more people alive, it is safe to assume the number of Internet users will continue to grow. For example, one estimate
from the National Science Foundation predicts that the Internet will
have nearly 5 billion users by 2020.10
The information technology revolution and the global transition
from connected to hyper-connected has resulted in the creation of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) global environment,
creating an entirely new set of issues demanding that individuals develop
their skills, commit to life-long learning, and improve their level of self-
awareness. Eight in ten CEOs expect their environment to grow significantly more complex and fewer than half believe they know how to deal
with it s uccessfully.11 Leaders from organizations large and small are more
concerned than ever about the future because of the new requirements to
lead in the uncertain and ambiguous 21st-century marketplace. Academic
researchers have completed extensive research on how to help individuals
and organizations achieve and sustain success in todays hypercompetitive,
dynamic, and ever-changing global marketplace. Due to the vast amount
of studies conducted, however, it is virtually impossible for anyone to
become familiar with all of the publications related to success. Determining the exact number of success-related theories that academic researchers
published during the last decade or two remains difficult to ascertain. One
estimate suggests that there are approximately 28,000 journals across all
academic disciplines publishing over 1.8 million articles each year; 90 percent of which are never cited by another author.12 A small subset of those
1.8 million articles involves research on some aspect of success. Due to
their technical design, limited circulation, and hyper-specific nature, half
of the academic papers are read only by their authors and journal editors.

WHY READ THIS BOOK

xv

Success: Theory and Practice highlights some of the leading research on

success and provides readers with case studies and questions for consideration. It does not, however, include all of the theories and recent research
related to success. Doing so would be nearly impossible. Divided into
seven chapters, this publication provides a clear, concise, and compelling
account on the theory and practice of success and includes research from
history, psychology, sociology, cognitive neuroscience, animal b ehavior,
and other areas. A list of readings, questions, and other resources are located at the end of each chapter. Due to the substantial amount of research, many theories on success were excluded from this publication.
Examples of research I chose not to include in this book include the role
that physical beauty,13 open innovation,14 or how your partners personality15 factor into success. Success: Theory and Practice could easily be three
times its current size. But that would be counterproductive to my objective of providing a clear, concise, and compelling account on the theory
and practice of success.
Although there are many reasons to read this publication, here are the
top ten. Read this book if you want to:
1. Understand some of the key success factors identified by researchers.
2. Define, or redefine, your definition of success.
3. Realize the connection between your level of self-awareness and your
ability to succeed.
4. Recognize that many avenues exist in the pursuit of success.
5. Learn how others succeeded.
6. Ask yourself relevant questions challenging your dedication to
achieving success.
7. Discover new theories on individual and organizational success.
8. Challenge yourself to think differently.
9. Examine the link between the theory and practice of success.
10. Grow both personally and professionally.

Contents
How to Read This Book......................................................................... xxi
Forward............................................................................................ xxvii
Preface xxxi
Acknowledgmentsxxxix
Introductionxliii
Chapter 1 Have a Bias Toward Action1
Engage in deliberate practice3
Demonstrate the characteristics of a maverick5
Exhibit courage8
Chapter 2 Engage with Others 19
Collaborate21
The power of crowds26
Open networks30
Chapter 3 Commit to Lifelong Learning39
Practice the growth mindset40
Understand the focusing illusion 42
Develop emotional intelligence46
Chapter 4 Increase Your Self-Awareness57
Determine your self59
Market your value63
Meditate66
Chapter 5 Remain Open to the Possibilities77
Think differently78
Experience disequilibrium81
Remain open to serendipity84
Chapter 6 Create Options93
Decide between best versus right95
Turn your disadvantage into an advantage98
Engage in subtle maneuvers101

xviii CONTENTS

Chapter 7 Maintain a High Level of Energy111

Manage your fear112
Learn deep survival tactics115
Perform under pressure118
Conclusion127
Index..................................................................................................135

Do something; do something to that; and then do something to that.

Pretty soon you have something.
Jasper Johns

How to Read This Book

Success: Theory and Practice is the byproduct of my research into successful
people over the last 25 years. With a PhD in history, I realized the power of
examining the backstory of a successful person. What allowed a politician to
successfully navigate the landscape and get critical legislation passed? What
enabled an athlete to perform a physical act previously thought impossible?
What drove an artist to translate their vision into reality? These and many
other questions fascinated me and drove me to research the backgrounds of
many different types of successful people. During my historical research, a
variety of research theories started to appear as I examined how people succeeded. Fascinating findings from fields unfamiliar to me like psychology,
sociology, cognitive neuroscience, animal behavior, and other areas started
to fall into view. Along the way I took notes and make connections. Success:
Theory and Practice details that successful people demonstrate one or more
of the following seven characteristics:
1. Have a bias toward action: Successful people have a bias toward action. They pursue what researchers have labeled deliberate practice,
they demonstrate some level of maverickism, and they exhibit courageous behavior.
2. Engage with others: Successful people engage with others. They engage with a wide spectrum of people to collaborate, they leverage
technology to connect with crowds around the globe, and they work
and socialize in open networks.
3. Commit to life-long learning: Successful people are life-long learners. They
possess what researchers have labeled a growth mindset, they understand
the focusing illusion, and they develop their emotional intelligence.
4. Increase your self-awareness: Successful people increase their selfawareness. They practice a growth mindset, they understand the focusing illusion, and they develop their emotional intelligence.

xxii

HOW TO READ THIS BOOK

5. Remain open to the possibilities: Successful people remain open to the

possibilities. They work hard at determining their self, they understand how to market their value, and they practice meditation.
6. Create options: Successful people create options. They assess what is
best versus what is right, they know how to turn a disadvantage into
an advantage, and they engage in subtle maneuvers.
7. Maintain a high level of energy: Successful people maintain a high
level of energy. They manage their fear, they practice deep survival
tactics, and they perform under pressure.
The seven chapters of this publication examine specific theories and
case studies related to each characteristic. After examining hundreds of
theories, publications, and other resources, several conclusions started to
become obvious:
These seven characteristics consistently appeared in one historical
investigation after another.
Successful people often demonstrate more than one of these
seven characteristics.
Achieving success is the byproduct of both intention and
circumstance.
New academic and scientific research continues to improve
our understanding of success.
The ongoing technological revolution continues to
disrupt previously established strategies to succeed while
simultaneously opening up new opportunities for people to
translate their dreams into reality.
There is no one specific path to success.
There is no secret to success.
Success is open to anyone regardless of family history, educational
background, or income level.
To understand these findings, review the backstory of the minions explained
in the introduction. Doing so will illustrate the link between different characteristics and theories often found in the backstories of many successful
people. A list of readings, questions, and other resources are located at the

HOW TO READ THIS BOOK xxiii

end of each chapter. If you are unable to answer all of the questions at the
end of each chapter, I recommend that you at least examine your answers
to the following seven questions, since they each relate to one of the key
characteristics found in successful people. Select a time period (Ex: the last
month) and challenge yourself to answer each question. Write down your
answers and then revisit these questions and your previous answers each
month.
1. Do you have a bias toward action?
2. How often do you expand your ability to collaborate with others?
3. What have you done to demonstrate a commitment to life-long
learning?
4. How have you increased your level of self-awareness?
5. When were you open to new possibilities?
6. What have you done to create options?
7. What do you do to maintain a high level of energy?
Be honest with yourself when you answer these questions. Make a note to
ask yourself these questions on a regular basis. Achieving a higher level of
self-awareness is a critical first step to moving forward.

If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then youll

be successful.
Eric Thomas

Forward
The Definition ofSuccess
Websters online dictionary offers four definitions of success. The definition that most resonates with me and captures the spirit of Success: Theory
and Practice reads as followsThat which comes after; hence, consequence, issue, or result, of an endeavor or undertaking, whether good or
bad; the outcome of effort. This definition of success is more than just
a focus on the ends, but rather the means and the ends; the process by
which an individual pursues a course of action that may or may not result
in the desired outcome. Success: Theory and Practice helps us, as readers,
realize the importance of self-awareness when engaging in the process;
provides the tools and action steps to contribute thoughtfully and critically to that process; and offers insights into the role of our personal actions and engagement with others as key contributors to the outcome,
whether the preferred outcome has been achieved (or not).
As an academic, I firmly believe in and live to be a lifelong learner
though some days I am more successful than others. I subscribe to the
Dewey definition of learning which focuses on the struggle, and the
result of that struggle is where true learning, personal and professional
development, and growth intersect. But as I have evolved personally (now
a mother of two) and professionally (nearing towards full professorship),
my definition of success has also evolved. Context and time are great influencers of success and contribute to ones ability to be a life-long learner.
Some days, success is showering and dressing my two and a half year old
and one year old before noon (parents, I know you can relate). Other
days, success is seeing a labor of love published or watching my students
achieve their dreams and pursue their passions.
In a world in which work-life balance (an unrealistic expectation, in
my opinion) and disengagement are even more challenging because of
the ways in which technology makes us all too accessible, we need reminded of how to re-center ourselves by asking Why am I doing what I

xxviii FORWARD

am doing? as a quick, but all too necessary gut check as we recalibrate.

Rather than rely on technology to perpetuate our busyness as a measure
of success, we need to first be clear within ourselves what success is in the
moment and realize success is always a moving target influenced by context and time. Success: Theory and Practice provides strategies, tools, and
examples of how others have achieved their definitions of success.
Perhaps even more important, Michael offers many definitions of
success as measured by the individuals who embarked on their journeys
rather than external influences. Much like beauty, success is all in the eye
of the beholder. Unfortunately, technology allows others to comment
on our successes in very unproductive ways, making the ideas shared in
Success even more important and of great value. In our times of most
need, we rely on models of how others have weathered and achieved their
personal and professional successes. All the ideas shared in this book are
doable, manageable, reasonable, and ongoing. Even better, they help us
achieve Maya Angelous simple, yet powerful wordsWhen you know
better, you do better. Success not only gives us the empowerment to define and redefine success but it also helps us to know better, thus allowing
us all to do better on behalf of ourselves and our greatest advocates and
cheerleaders.
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have, and appreciate the
much needed reminder (much like me) as we all seek to be our best professional, personal, and spiritual selves as we seek to achieve Success.
Vicki Baker, PhD
Associate Professor of Economics & Management
Albion College

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

Preface
The Changing Definition
of Success
In an article discussing the training of new radiologists, Dr. Richard B.
Gunderman wrote that everyone wants to succeed, but few people take
the time to study success. Similarly, everyone dislikes failure, but few people invest the time and energy necessary to learn from their mistakes.16
Dr. Gundermans observation is an important one to highlight in the beginning of a book about success. The abundance of research on success
makes it a field that people can indeed study. The 2013 American Express
Life Twist Study is one such example. In its research American Express discovered that nearly six in ten Americans reported that they consider themselves to be a success; yet 83 percent also agreed with the statement Im a
work in progress. Most Americans today define their own success based on
being healthy (85 percent), having a job they love (75 percent), having time
to pursue passions (69 percent), continuing to learn and do new things
(65 percent), and being able to make a difference in peoples lives (62 percent).17
The study of success has a long history. The ancient form of Egyptian hieroglyphs, a formal writing system that combined logographic and
alphabetic elements, told stories of specific episodes of success, survival,
and other aspects of life. For thousands of years, as hieroglyphs evolved
into alphabets such as Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Old English, and
modern, people have been trying to define and explain success. What
is it? How does one achieve it? What are the threats to achieve success?
Does your definition of success change over time? How do different generations define success? These are just a few of the many questions on the
understanding of success. Common definitions of success often involve
the achievement of financial wealth, the accumulation of luxurious consumer goods, the acquisition of housing estates, and the collection of
high-performance automobiles. The latest research suggests otherwise.

xxxii PREFACE

Current research indicates three emerging trends related to success.

First, there here has been a substantial decrease in the number of people
who believe money is the only real meaningful measure of success.18 A
2014 survey conducted by Ipsos interviewed 2,011 Americans aged 18
and older found that 67 percent associate success with achieving personal
goals; 66 percent cited good relationships with friends and family and
60 percent said loving what you do for a living.19 Another new and
emerging trend finds that the number of Americans who associate success
with life experiences over the purchase of consumer goods continues to
grow.20 Moreover, during the last 30 years, Americans increasingly viewed
life satisfaction, such as good health, finding time for loved ones, and
creating a worklife balance as all signs of success.21 Knowing that life
satisfaction is now an important sign of success for many people, realize that its not about whether we have what it takes; its about whether
we choose to pursue it. The astonishing news is that for the first time in
recorded history, it matters not so much where you are born or what your
DNA says about youtodays hyper-connected global economy is waiting for you to step forward, with only the resistance to hold you back.22
But will you? Will you step forward and translate your dream into reality?
Will you take the necessary time to understand how to be successful? Will
you learn from your mistakes? What are your dreams and more importantly, what have you done lately to translate them into reality?
In the global best-selling fictional novel The Alchemist, author Paulo
Coehlo states when people are young, they are not afraid to dream and
to yearn for everything they would like to see happen in their lives. But
as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be
impossible to realize their Personal Legend.23 A Personal Legend is ones
destiny. It is the key to living a life of purpose and intention. Through the
eyes of a literate boy shepherd, Santiago, The Alchemist proposes that the
pursuit of ones Personal Legend exists as lifes primary spiritual demand.
As a result, the idea that all individuals should live in the singular pursuit
of their individual dreams emerges as the primary theme of The Alchemist.
Award winning author Laura Hillenbrand suffers from chronic fatigue
syndrome yet pursues her personal legend of writing and achieved success
for her books Seabiscuit, An American Legend and Unbroken: A World War
II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.

 PREFACE
xxxiii

As David Brooks of The New York Times wrote, It is better to respect

the future, to remain humbly open to your own unfolding.24 If you
can remain humbly open to your own unfolding, then you have given
yourself an opportunity to experience what Victor Frankl called the space
between stimulus and response. In that space is our power to choose our
response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.25 Remaining open to explore the space between stimulus and response might just
ignite the personal or professional success previously thought impossible.
Ironically, some leading researchers in the field of success have incredible
backstories that demonstrate how they remained open to their own unfolding following tragic events. Amy Cuddy is one such example. Cuddy
is an American social psychologist known for her research on stereotyping and discrimination, emotions, power, nonverbal behavior, and the
effects of social stimuli on hormone levels. When Cuddy was a student
at the University of Colorado at Boulder, she suffered severe head trauma
as a result of a traffic accident and her IQ fell two standard deviations.26
She had to struggle to regain the abilities she had lost, and when she
returned to college as a 22-year old junior, she discovered a passion for
social psychology.27 Cuddy graduated from the University of Colorado
at Boulder in 1998, began a job as a research assistant at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and then earned her doctorate in social
psychology from Princeton University in 2005.28 Her TED talk entitled
Your body language shapes who you are, delivered at TEDGlobal 2012
in Edinburgh, Scotland has been viewed more than 30 million times and
ranks second among the most-viewed TED talks.29 As a follow up to her
TEDGlobal talk, she published Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your
Biggest Challenges in December 2015.30 Cuddy remained open to the possibilities following a stimulus, her accident, and responded by dedicating
her life to social psychology.
Questions and Resources
How do you define success?
When is the last time you thought about your definition of
success?
Has your definition of success changed over time? Why? Why not?

xxxiv PREFACE

How does one achieve success?

What are the threats to achieve success?
Does your definition of success change over time?
How do different generations define success?
Have you helped anyone achieve success?
Why do people attempt to translate dreams into reality?
What is the last book on success you have read?
Have you thought about your personal legend?
What has stopped you from achieving your personal legend?

Reading List: The ABCs of Success Literature list below highlights just a
few of the many publications related to success.
Analogy: relies upon a story to convey lessons about success, self-awareness,
and personal growth
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to
Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
Autobiographical: true stories of those who have overcome adversity to
achieve a high degree of success
Chris Gardner, Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting
from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Farrah Gray, Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the
Inside Out
Blake Mycoskie, Start Something That Matters
Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World
Behavior: research-based publications that focus on identifying the necessary traits and habits for success
Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do
in Life and Business
Daniel H. Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What
Motivates Us
Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant
Stop Talking

 PREFACE
xxxv

Amy Cuddy, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest

Challenges
Cerebral: highlights the importance of what and how we think
James Allen, As A Man Thinketh
Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience
Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Collections: summarizes the backstories of famous people
Joey Green, The Road to Success is Paved with Failure: How
Hundreds of Famous People Triumphed Over Inauspicious Beginnings
Tom Butler-Bowdon, 50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom for Life
Darcy Andries, The Secret of Success is Not a Secret: Stories of
Famous People Who Persevered
Examples: research-based profiles of high achievers
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success
Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates WorldClass Performers from Everybody Else
Jim Collins, From Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make
the Leap. . . And Others Dont
Exploration: emphasizes the importance of discovery
Martha Beck, Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life
You Were Meant to Live
Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire
Everyone to Take Action
Laurence Gonzales, Deep Survival: Why Lives, Who Dies and Why
Historical: uses lessons from historical events
Caroline Alexander, The Endurance: Shackletons Legendary
Antarctic Expedition
Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount
Everest Disaster

xxxvi PREFACE

Intelligence: explains the role of intelligence

Daniel Goldman, Emotional Intelligence; Why It Can Matter
More than IQ
David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The New
Secret to Success
Inspirational: motivation is the key to success
Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take
Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and
Financial Destiny!
Literature: classic literature texts examining personal growth
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Money: solely focused on the accumulation of wealth
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
Keith Cameron Smith, The Top 10 Distinctions Between
Millionaires and the Middle Class
T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the
Inner Game of Wealth
Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach
Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
New Age: spiritual in nature
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual
Enlightenment
Bevan Audstone, Three Steps to Enlightenment
Practical: lists and advice
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Richard Koch, The 80/20 Principle; The Secret of Achieving
More with Less
Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer, The Success Principles(TM):
How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

 PREFACE
xxxvii

Relationships: focuses on connecting with others

Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
Secret: unravels the secret to success
Rhonda Byrne, The Secret
Social Entrepreneurship: success is taking action and launching a venture that makes the world a better place
David Bornstein, How to Change the World: Social
Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
John Elkington, The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social
Entrepreneurs Create Markets that Change the World
Spiritual: how success is linked to a spiritual existence
Viktor Frankl, Mans Search for Meaning
Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
Task: managing to do lists in order to succeed in life and work
Ken Blanchard, The One Minute Manager
Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop
Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
Theoretical: theories that explain specific avenues to success
John Kay, Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly
Tim Harford, Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure
Women: focused on women and how they can succeed
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves
Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead
Lois P. Frankel, Nice Girls Dont Get the Corner Office:
Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers

Acknowledgments
Scott Edmondson, Lisa Pfeiffer Jones and Kathy Kitchener embody the
traits of successful people. I dedicated this book to them because they
needed to discover a way forward following tragic events. In less than
two years Scott lost his father and two of his brothers and cared for his
mother who was diagnosed with cancer. Lisas husband died and she was
left to raise their only child. Kathy suffered a devastating loss when her
one year old daughter died of a rare illness. In a book about the theory
and practice of successful people, these three individuals demonstrate by
example how to succeed amidst the darkest of times. They succeeded because they choose to move forward. Their dedication to life, concern for
others, and bias towards action have allowed them to succeed. They were
each gracious enough to write a brief statement to be included here.
Kathys story: On the morning of 11 May I never thought I was saying
goodbye to my beautiful daughter Kathryn for the last time. Kate died
due to an undiagnosed tumor in her throat. It was a devastating loss. I
never would have gotten out of bed the days following without the love
and support of my husband. He made sure I was up, dressed, and ate.
We supported each other since that horrible day. When I fall he is there
to pick me up; and when he stumbles, I am there to support him. Many
marriages crumble after the loss of a child. We have managed to keep
moving, I always hated the phrase getting over a loss. We will never get
over the loss of Kate. As we hold the love for Kate in our hearts forever.
And because of our love for her and each other, we were blessed with our
rainbow baby, Olivia, and will share our love and stories of her big sister.
You never fully get over the loss or past the grief. I carry it each and every
day of my life. I have suffered bad days and worse days since Kates passing. Now I try to have as many good days for Olivia as possible.
Lisas story: As a West Point graduate, Keith embodied the ideology of
Duty, Honor, and Country. He also had a magical way of making people
feel comfortable and respected. Never one to brag, the fact that he was a

xl ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

former cadet, an attorney and sang opera for fun remained a mystery to
many. Our marriage was a true partnership. With his passing, I lost my
husband, confidant and best friend. My life lost its laughter and its song.
Moving forward, I prayed for patience, grace and strength. I knew I had
to raise our son and understood there were no second chances. Looking
in Andys eyes, I recognized that every hope I had for his future rested on
the decisions I made in the wake of losing Keith. In my heart and mind
I purposely walled off the grief and focused on the stability and faith for
the future that we both craved. I became a master at compartmentalizing
and putting up a brave front when necessary, then crumbling into a sobbing mess when I was alone. Thankfully, over time, the stability and hope
I worked so hard to create became my solace. In some ways, it was all an
elaborate fake it til you make it scheme. As a side note Both Andy and
I found that helping others soothed our weary souls. We have participated
in many volunteer projects, but feeding the hungry has become a passion.
As Andy once said (while serving at the Trenton Soup Kitchen), We were
just one life insurance policy away from being on the other side of the
table. His thoughts were a bit dramatic, but not completely unfounded.
Scotts story: John Lennon said it best, Life is what happens to you
while youre busy making other plans. In a brief period of time I suffered
a series of life altering events that made me into the person I am today.
Starting in the fall of 2009 into the spring of 2010, I experienced the death
of my father and two brothers, a diagnosis of endometrial cancer in my
mother, and a divorce. During this time period, I honestly did not know
what to think, other than I could not give up hope that things would get
better. They say you go through five stages of grief such as denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, and acceptance. However, my experience was that
these stages were fluid and did not go in order. Additionally, I experienced
embarrassment, doubt, anxiety, and confusion. However, this would not
deter me. The one thing my father told me growing up, was not to give
up. In my darkest days, I felt I owed it to him to bring his words to life. I
worked my ass off during this time to distract myself and take my mind off
things. I worked overtime, two jobs, and then life happened. When I least
expected it, I met my beautiful wife Michele. She restored my faith in love,
friendship, and family, and has blessed me with two beautiful children.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xli

Thank you all for allowing me to use your stories in this book. Your
commitment to moving forward serves as an example for others to follow. New Zealand explorer Edmund Hillary noted that People do not
decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary
things. Moving forward amidst tragic death requires extraordinary effort.
Kathy, Scott and Lisa are ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.
I would also like to thank Adam Cirucci, Evan Harris, John Clark,
Rocco Marrari, Robert Sauselin, Shelly Thomas Vroman, and Vicki Baker
Harris for their comments on a draft of this manuscript. To the entire
team at Business Experts Press including Stewart Mattson, Rob Zwettler,
Charlene Kronstedt, Lisa Blade, Sean Kaneski, Sheri Dean, and Karen
Amundson I owe my deepest appreciation and gratitude for their constant support. Success: Theory and Practice is the third book that Business
Experts Press for me as they previously published Marketing Your Value:
Nine Steps to Navigate Your Career and Major in Happiness: Debunking the
College Major Fallacies. I would also like to extend a special acknowledgement and thank you to my family and friends for their daily guidance and
support including my wife Lori Joyce who made sure that our children
Amanda Haley and Jonathan Victor continue to travel down the road to
success as they mature.

Introduction
Linking theTheory and
Practice ofSuccess
It is both useful and necessary to use a case study that illustrates how
success seldom comes from any one specific theory. The individuals
highlighted in each case study here rarely reviewed the research and then
directly applied the findings to their life in order to achieve immediate
success. Personal growth and professional development follow a far more
circuitous route. When you examine the backstory of many successful
people, organizations, and brands, multiple theories of success are often
involved. Examining the backstory of the small, yellow creatures known
as minions, who went from relative obscurity to a $1 billion brand during
the last five years, seems like a good starting point. While the minions
might have exploded in popularity and created one of the most recognizable and successful brands and images during the last few years, their path
to creation started over five decades ago. What follows is a summary of
how the minions came into existence with links to the various theories of
success involved along the way: serendipity, adapting, perseverance, collaboration, and creativity.

Theory: The role of serendipity

The first theory of success that played a role in the creation of the minions
was serendipity. The development of the minions had their origins in the
birth of Christopher Meledandri in New York City in 1959. His parents adopted a child-rearing technique popular during the 1960s where
parents treated their children like adults. As a result of this parenting
approach, Meledandri never saw any cartoons or animated movies. Instead, his early film experiences came courtesy of Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese, rather than Walt Disney. According to

xliv INTRODUCTION

Meledandri, the films that I was exposed to were the films my parents
were interested in seeing as opposed to anything remotely resembling a
film that was appropriate for children. Being raised by parents who incorporated this type of child-rearing strategy was completely serendipitous for Meledandri. Unfortunately, a month before graduating college,
serendipity would strike again, this time tragically, as his father died of
a heart attack. Meledandri had to attend to his fathers affairs and phase
out his business. The occurrence and development of events by chance,
without any control or influence from Meledandri, played a critical role
in his development.

Theory: Adapt
A second theory on success regarding the necessity of adaptation also
played a role in the development of the minions. One of his fathers
friends, Dan Melnick, was a producer who had made films such as All
That Jazz and Straw Dogs. He offered Mr. Meledandri a job as a gofer. Far
from glamorous, his responsibilities included taking the dog to the vet,
to go shopping for Christmas gifts, to being a courier for 35-mm film
canisters so that [Melnick] could screen movies at his house. Yet the experience he gained was invaluable. Meledandri learned to adapt and opened
himself up to learning as much as possible through the experience that so
many others might have turned down or rejected since it was too mundane. Meledandri gained access and exposure to virtually every aspect
of producing a film, from the earliest conversations about ideas, to script
development, to scheduling and budgeting, to marketing. Although he
had experience in New York City, working in Hollywood required him
to adapt. According to Meledandri, I was coming from New York City
so I thought I was pretty savvy but I found it quite intimidating, actually
as I went from having studied Billy Wilder films in school to seeing Billy
Wilder have lunch with my boss.

Theory: Perseverance
Meledandri also demonstrated another trait that researchers have identified
as critical to achieving personal or professional success: perseverance. As

 INTRODUCTION
xlv

he continued to gain increasing responsibility in Hollywood, Meledandri

eventually worked on a major studio project entitled Titan A.E. that involved a mix of traditional animation with computer generated imagery
(CGI). It was a rather embarrassing failure and was an extremely painful
experience for him. Fortunately, his job was spared but he had to persevere through the failure and embarrassment. After his failure, he used Blue
Sky Studios, a small New York-based company that had never produced
anything longer than three minutes. The result was Ice Age and a string of
other hits followed before he left in 2007 to start Illumination Entertainment, home of the minions, with the backing of Universal Pictures.

Theory: Collaboration
A fourth research theory highlighted in the success of the minions involves
collaboration. Without his ability to collaborate, Meledandri would have
never been able to bring the minions to life. The minions are products
of Illumination Entertainment cofounded by Meledandri and Universal
Pictures in 2007. A good deal of the minion animation was done in Paris,
following the 2011 purchase of Mac Guff Ligne, a French digital studio,
in a deal that was financed by Universal. Meledandri founded Illumination on the idea that his movies should be created by a group of people
that have an international complexion. Renaud, for example, is French.
According to Meledandri we are trying to move away from the idea that
these are American movies to be enjoyed by a global audience.

Theory: Creativity
A fifth trait that researchers have identified, creativity, is also prominent
in the backstory of the minions. No one person created the minions. In
fact, they were not event part of the first draft of the screenplay. According to co-screenwriter Cinco Paul In the script, we just said, Grus minions do this or do that in the initial draft. And then, the films directors,
Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud came up with the characters design and
the philosophical concept of the minions with their unintelligible voice
and tic-tac shaped bodies. When creating the minions, Coffin and Renaud looked for inspiration from some of the silver screens most notable

xlvi INTRODUCTION

toadies, particularly the Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka & the
Chocolate Factory (1971) and Jawas from Star Wars: Episode IV A
New Hope (1977). Creativity helped bring the minions to life.
Christopher Meledandris ability to respond to serendipity, adapt to
uncomfortable and new experiences, persevere difficult situations and
failures, collaborate with others, and encourage an environment of creativity all contributed to the success of the minions. There was no one
single situation that led to their creation. As with most successful ventures, it unfolded over time and involved a variety of steps along the way.
The lesson from this analysis of the minion backstory is that the man
who was never allowed to see childrens movies grew up to become a leading producer of them. The backstory of Christopher Meledandri and the
minions resembles that of many other successful people and ventures in
that success was the byproduct of both intention and circumstance and
there was no one specific path. Keep that in mind as you translate your
vision into reality.

No bird soars in a calm.

Wilbur Wright

Endnotes
1. Viv Groskop, Shelf-help Books Set to Fill Publishers Coffers in
2014, The Guardian, December 28, 2013.
2. Ibid.
3. David Runciman, Politics or Technology-Which Will Save the
World? The Guardian, May 23, 2014.
4. Thomas L. Friedman, A Theory of Everything (Sort of ) The New
York Times, August 13, 2011.
5. Ibid.
6. Dan Schawbel, Geoff Colvin: Why Humans Will Triumph over
Machines, Forbes, August 4, 2015.
7. Internet World Stats website: [Link]/top20
.htm (accessed July 2, 2015).
8. Donald Melanson, UN: Worldwide Internet Users Hit Two Billion,
Cellphone Subscriptions Top Five Billion, Engadget, January 28,
2011.
9. Andrew C. Revkin, U.N.: Young and Old Boom on the Road to
9 Billion, The New York Times, March 11, 2009.
10. Carolynn Duffy Marsan, 10 Fool-proof Predictions for the Internet
in 2020, PC World, January 5, 2010.
11. IBM 2010 Global CEO Study, IBM Press release dated May 18,
2010.
12. Rose Eveleth, Academics Write Papers Arguing over How Many
People Read (and Cite) Their Papers, Smithsonian Magazine, March
25, 2014.
13. Daniel S. Hamermsesh, Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More
Successful, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011.
14. Henry William Chesbrough, New Frontiers in Open Innovation, New
York City, NY: Oxford University Press, 2014.
15. Sian Beilock, How Your Partners Personality Impacts Your Career
Success, Psychology Today, December 3, 2014.
16. Richard B. Gunderman, Why Do Some People Succeed Where
Others Fail? Implications for Education, Radiology, Vol. 226, 2002,
pp. 2931.

l ENDNOTES

17. American Express, The 2013 Life Twist Study: An independent report
commissioned by American Express.
18. Ibid.
19. Jacquelyn Smith, This Is How Americans Define Success, Business
Insider, October 3, 2014.
20. David Wallis, Increasingly, Retirees Dump Their Possessions and
Hit the Road, The New York Times, August 29, 2014; and Svati
Kirsten Narula, You Should Spend Money on Experiences, Not
Things, CityLab, August 28, 2014.
21. Art Carey, Taking the Measure of Happiness, Philadelphia Inquirer,
June 2, 2013.
22. Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception, New York City, NY: Penguin,
2012.
23. For more information visit Paulo Coelhos website: [Link]
.com/.
24. David Brooks, Respect the Future, The New York Times, April 2,
2012.
25. Leslie Becker-Phelps, Dont Just React: Choose Your Response,
Psychology Today, July 23, 2013.
26. Craig Lambert, The Psyche on Automatic, Harvard Magazine,
November-December 2010.
27. David Brooks, Matter Over Mind, The New York Times, April 20,
2011.
28. Craig Lambert, The Psyche on Automatic, Harvard Magazine,
November-December 2010.
29. TedTalks: Most Viewed TEDTalks. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
30. Amy Cuddy, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2015.

CHAPTER 1

Have a Bias Toward Action

Introduction
In a world where three billion people rely on advanced mobile technology
and powerful computers to engage in real-time messaging, news reporting,
and picture sharing, success is the one constant that still requires persistence. Any examination into success needs to recognize the preponderance
of technology, its continual adaptation and its reach around the globe. Just
because the technology we have today allows us to do things faster than
our parents or grandparents does not mean there is such a thing as overnight success. Understanding there is no such thing as an overnight success
is one of the most important stepping stones to use throughout life for
personal growth and professional development. The idea of overnight success continues to exist as a prevalent cultural myth. It keeps many people
from understanding and appreciating what it takes to build a meaningful
career and establish purposeful influence.
As Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson noted in their bestselling book Rework: You know those overnight-success stories youve
heard about? Its not the whole story. Dig deeper and youll usually find
people who have busted their asses for years to get into a position where
things could take off.1 Fried and Hansson concluded that slow, measured
growth and patience are the two key traits a person needs because you
have to do it for a long time before the right people notice.2 The pursuit
of goals, regardless of size, requires constant commitment and unwavering persistence, especially in the face of obstacles and setbacks. The
best-kept secret in the startup world is that there is no such thing as an
overnight success,3 wrote George Bradt, founder of executive onboarding
group PrimeGenesis. Echoing the authors of Rework, Bradt observed that
success typically takes six to seven yearsif you survive the first three.4

2 SUCCESS

Grinding work out over an extended period of time with the intention of
making adjustments in order to keep moving forward requires a high level
of self-awareness coupled with what researchers have labeled grit.
MacArthur Fellow Angela Duckworth, a psychology professor at the
University of Pennsylvania, identified this grinding out as gritthe tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals and
equips individuals to pursue, especially challenging aims over years and
even decades.5 Duckworth noted that people who accomplished great
things often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving
dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however
long it might take.6 Duckworth recognizes that the essence of grit remains elusive as it has hundreds of correlates, with nuances and anomalies
that include, but are not limited to the following characteristics: courage, conscientiousness, follow-through, resilience, and the pursuit of excellence not perfection.7 The field of publishing is a good case study of
authors who have had to practice resilience in order to get their work
published.
Throughout history authors have had to demonstrate grit amidst
multiple rejections by publishers. The reach and frequency of rejections
is so common of a phenomenon that there is a website dedicated to
bestsellers that were initially rejected - [Link].8 The halls of
the literary establishment echo with tales of now-revered writers who
initially faced failure.9 Stephen King is just one example whose Carrie
was rejected 30 times before being published. In 1973, before Carrie was
published, King, his wife Tabby, and their toddler and newborn lived
in a doublewide trailer. King drove a rust-bucket Buick held together
with baling wire and duct tape. Kings wife, Tabby, worked second-shift
at Dunkin Donuts while he taught English at a private high school.10
King also worked summers at an industrial laundry and moonlighted
as a janitor and gas pump attendant. Dealing with constant rejection
and criticism from publishers and readers from the articles he did get
published in the nudie mag market, King grew frustrated at his writing.
He even through a draft of Carrie out in the trash but Tabby found it
and told him to continue writing. They both had a bias towards action.
With that King finished his first novel and after 30 rejections sold it to
Doubleday.11

Have a Bias Toward Action

There is a caveat, however, to this bias towards action with a reliance

on grit; the action steps one takes need to be focused on a specific goal
and not just busy work. It is easy to be busy. It is far more difficult to
practice the trait of grit. All too often people obsess over how busy they
are without any sense of accomplishment. Researchers have recently examined idleness aversion and the need for justifiable busyness.12 Some
people are busy just for the sake of being busy. These people are not grinding it out nor are they working towards a specific goal or translating theory into action. They are merely justifying how busy they are. Be careful
not to fall into the busyness trap. As Tim Kreider wrote in a New York
Times editorial people who have self-imposed a label of always busy on
themselves do so out of their addiction to busyness itself and dread what
they might have to face in its absence.13 Grinding it out for long periods
of time require one to have a bias toward action and often involves engaging
in deliberate practice, demonstrating the characteristics of a maverick, and
exhibiting courageous behavior.

Engage in Deliberate Practice

Two books that specifically examine the theory of deliberate practice
are Malcolm Gladwells Outliers: The Story of Success and Geoff Colvins
Talent is Over-rated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from
Everybody Else. Both books examine how individuals achieved worldclass mastery that put them at the top of their field. Gladwells chapter
entitled The 10,000 Hour Rule identified that world-class performers,
The Beatles, for example, spent approximately 10,000 hours working at their specialty to arrive at the top. These were not overnight
successes or people who merely exploited natural talent. Rather, they
spent years focused on perfecting one thing. Colvin further supports
Gladwells point and states three very important conclusions. First,
everyone who has achieved exceptional performance has encountered
terrible difficulties along the way. There are no exceptions.14 Second,
what the evidence shouts most loudly is striking, liberating news that
great performance is not reserved for a preordained few. It is available
to you and to everyone.15 Colvin also concluded that talent, IQ, and
experience, once thought to be the three pillars of success, play a less

4 SUCCESS

important role than previously thought when compared to ones drive,

decisiveness, and grit.
Both authors believe that great performance is available to you and
to everyone. Deliberate practice research indicates that long-term success
requires a minimum of 10 years of engagement, coupled with grit, or the
ability to persevere difficult situations and a willingness to adapt to challenges as they arise. Larry Birds career as a basketball superstar is a case
study in deliberate practice. Bird settled on basketball as his primary sport
in high school. When he realized he might excel in the sport, he began to
practice day and night. I played when I was cold and my body was aching and I was so tired, he told Sports Illustrated. I dont know why, I just
kept playing and playing. . . . I guess I always wanted to make the most
out of it.16 He also thrived on learning and playing with people who were
better than him from such a young age. That attitude would be one of
the key ingredients to his long-term success. Bird started for French Lick/
West Badens high school team, Springs Valley High School, where he left
as the schools all-time scoring leader.
Following a sophomore season that was shortened by a broken
ankle, Bird emerged as a star during his junior year. Springs Valley went
19-2 and young Larry became a local celebrity. Fans always seemed to
be willing to give a ride to Birds parents, who couldnt afford a car of
their own. As a senior, Bird became the schools all-time scoring champion and about 4,000 people attended his final home game. Birds high
school coach, Jim Jones, was a key factor to his success. Jonesie, as
Bird called him, would help Bird and his friends practice any day of the
week. Bird would demonstrate deliberate practice by often going to the
gym early, shooting between classes, and staying late into the evening.
It was during this time that he played with the older students working
at a nearby hotel.17
Bird received a scholarship to play college basketball for Bob Knight
and the Indiana University Hoosiers in 1974. However, he was overwhelmed by the size of the campus and number of students and was not
mentally ready for this stage of life; according to Bird, It didnt take long
to realize that I was out of my cocoon. He dropped out of Indiana after
24 days, disappointing his mother. Bird returned home to French Lick
where he enrolled in the nearby Northwood Institute before dropping

Have a Bias Toward Action

out. He had a short marriage that ended in divorce. To support himself

and his daughter from that marriage, he took a job with the City Department of French Lick. He drove a garbage truck and helped pick up trash
and to maintain parks and roads in the district. During this time, he also
played AAU basketball for Hancock Construction.18
Bird faced personal loss during the same period when his father committed suicide. After that tragic event, he decided to return to college.19
This time he went to Indiana State in Terre Haute, where he was coached
by Bob King. He had little confidence in his academic abilities, but felt
that he could help the basketball team, the Sycamores. By that time he
had grown another two inches. He was 6 feet 9 inches and 220 pounds.
Bird had to sit out his first season at Indiana State because of rules having to do with players moving from one school to another. That year,
the Sycamores went 1312 (won 13 games and lost 12). When he was
allowed to play in the 197677 season, his first year on the team, the
same Sycamores earned a 253 recordtheir best in almost 30 years.
When he was at Indiana State, Bird became the most talked about
college player in the country. He always played with and for the team
and always shared his fame with his fellow players both on and off the
court. The Boston Celtics drafted Bird in 1978. He had the option of
playing professional basketball right away, but he chose to stay in school
and finish his degree. The Celtics worked out a deal for Bird after his
graduation. The contract signed on June 8, 1979, gave Bird $650,000 per
year for five years, a total of $3.25 million.20 This sum was a record for a
rookie in any sport. The Boston fans made no secret of their expectations
for their new headliner. Bird did not disappoint them and would eventually go on to win several championships with the Celtics. Bird had a
bias toward action and engaged in deliberate practice for years to achieve
greatness on the basketball court. Those who have a bias toward action
are often considered mavericks.

Demonstrate the Characteristics of a Maverick

Just because something has never been done before doesnt mean it cannot be done. This is the fundamental belief of being a maverick. Mavericks often possess the perfect blend of self-delusions and ego to succeed,

6 SUCCESS

whereas others either failed or dare not go. The latest research on being a
maverick comes from Elliroma Gardner, an organizational psychologist at
the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gardner coined the
term maverickism as a continuum where people fall along a range. Some
people are likely to be high in maverickism, others moderate, and some low.
By constructing this scale, Gardner is able to better quantitatively measure
maverick tendencies.21 Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Sergey Brin,
and Larry Page are often described as mavericks.22 With her maverickism
scale, however, Gardners research indicates that being creative, taking risks,
breaking rules, and being goal focused are traits many people actually have
but they dont always have the same scale of results as Jobs and the others,
which makes them less well-known.23 If one is open to new experiences,
relentlessly curious and maintains a fascination with the world and a compulsion to understand how it works, then it is possible to be a maverick on
a smaller scale. This is important to realize because an individual translating their thoughts into action might hold Steve Jobs up as the large-scale
maverick to emulate. In actuality, all one needs to do is to recognize that the
pursuit of ones dream, and its impact on making a difference in this world,
no matter how small, demonstrates maverick behavior. In some historical
examples, a few mavericks started out on a small scale and then evolved over
time. The Impressionists artists in 19th-century Paris are one such example.
The Impressionists were radicals for their sketchy, light-filled paintings and for the fact that they established their own exhibitionapart
from the annual salon. In 19th-century France, a jury chose the artists
who could exhibit their work in the salon. Claude Monet, August Renoir,
Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley, and several other artists,
chose to demonstrate maverick behavior and went against tradition. They
decided that they did not want to, nor could they afford to, wait for the
jury to approve of their art. They all had experienced rejection by the
salon jury and refused to wait a year in between exhibitions and wanted to
sell their art to earn some much needed income. So, in an attempt to get
recognized outside of the official channel of the salon, these artists banded
together and held their own exhibition.24
They pooled their money, rented a studio that belonged to the famous
photographer Nadar and set a date for their first exhibition together.
They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors,

Have a Bias Toward Action

and Printmakers.25 The Impressionists held eight exhibitions from 1874

to 1886. The first exhibition did not repay them monetarily, but it
drew the critics who decided their art was abominable since it wasnt
finished. They called it just impressions. The public, at first hostile,
gradually came to believe that the maverick Impressionists had captured
a fresh and original vision, even if the art critics and art establishment
disapproved of the new style.26 While the Impressionists were mavericks in the world of art, Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz and Chick-fil-A
founder S. Truett Cathy exhibited the perfect blend of self-delusion and
ego to succeed in business.
When he wanted to open up the first Starbucks in Japan, CEO Schultz
had to challenge the status quo. In 1996, Starbucks was advised by a bluechip consulting company that opening in Japan would be problematic
because of many reasons, among which included the high price of real
estate, a nonsmoking policy in stores, and a cultural concern that no Japanese consumer would want to be seen carrying anything to eat or drink
while walking around outside.27 Since 80 percent of Starbucks business
back then was classified as to go, this last concern was particularly distressing. Even though no one at Starbucks had any international experience, and against the conclusions reached by the consultants, Schultz
challenged the status quo and opened the first Starbucks in Japan. On
opening day marked by high humidity and with CNN c ameras covering
the opening, hundreds of young Japanese people waited to enter the store
after Schultz cut the ribbon. Without advertising and with the Internet
in its infancy, how could news about the Starbucks brand travel around
the world in 1996? For Schultz, challenging the status quo was built upon
the foundation that Starbucks had become a company that people were
proud to support and a cup they were proud to hold. In the early 1990s,
Starbucks become the first company in America to offer comprehensive
health insurance to every employee, even those working part-time. When
it went public on June 26, 1992, some observers expressed concern that
this type of health-care policy would dilute shareholder value. For Shultz,
however, his policy helped reduce the high cost of attrition if you treated
people with respect and dignity.28
Like Schultz, S. Truett Cathy challenged the status quo when he
opened his first Chick-fil-A store in Atlantas Greenbriar Mall in 1967.

8 SUCCESS

True to his Christian business practices, Cathy told mall management

that his store had to be closed on Sunday. For over 20 years, Cathy
had taught Sunday school and never opened his other restaurant, The
Dwarf Grill on a Sunday and wanted to continue the tradition. Amidst
protests from the mall management that told him Sunday would be his
busiest day, Cathy challenged the status quo and stayed true to his principles. To this day, Chick-fil-A restaurants are still closed on Sunday.29
In true maverick form Truett noted that we should ask ourselves whats
important and whats not important. When you live by your convictions, people respect that. Its important to be consistent in living your
convictions.30 With a bias toward action, Shultz and Truett were mavericks that sparked a revolution in their respective industries. Facing one
issue after another, both individuals also had to demonstrate courage
throughout their life.

Exhibit Courage
Aristotle believed courage to be the most important quality in a man
when he declared courage is the first of human virtues because it makes
all others possible. Recent research into understanding what courage is
and how we might be able to cultivate the ability to exhibit it when necessary is providing new insight into having a bias toward action. Uri Nili
and Yadin Dudai from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot,
Israel recently determined just how courage works in the brain, finding
that a region called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) is
the driving force behind courageous acts.31 Generally speaking, there are
many forms of courage but the four most common are physical, collective, moral, and intellectual. Physical courage is a willingness to push the
limits of ones body; collective courage refers to when one joins or leads
other like-minded individuals; moral courage is the courage to stand up
for ones beliefs in the face of overwhelming opposition and intellectual
courage is the willingness to come out in favor of an idea that others
find ridiculous. The etymology of courage comes from Latin cor meaning from the heart. Having heart is often the deciding factor between
those who translate their dreams into reality and other who just dream.

Have a Bias Toward Action

Valentino Achak Deng, Ben Hogan, and Roger Bannister each exemplify
different forms of courage.
Growing up in a remote Sudanese town, Deng was caught up in his
countrys civil war. Separated from his friends and family, Deng became
one of the 27,000 lost boys of Sudan who were displaced and/or orphaned during war where an unimaginable two million people died. His
family lost to the civil war, Deng had the courage to find a refugee camp
where he learned to read and write.32 After a while he was accepted as a
refugee into the United States, settled in Atlanta, GA, and met author
Dave Eggers who spent the next three years writing What Is The What: The
Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng: A Novel. When the book was published in 2006, Deng established the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation.
All proceeds from the book support Valentinos Foundation. The Foundations first major project is the construction of an educational center in
Valentinos hometown of Marial Bai. The Marial Bai Secondary School is
the first high school in the entire region, where decades of war completely
devastated the educational system.33 While Deng used his courage to return home, Hogan used his courage to succeed despite three personal
tragedies.
American professional golfer Ben Hogan, one of the greatest players
in the history of the game, is notable for his profound influence on the
golf swing theory and his legendary ball-striking ability. He practiced and
achieved great success amidst many personal tragedies. First, his father
committed suicide when Hogan was nine years old, which left an impact
on him forever. His fathers suicide placed the Hogan family in financial difficulties, so his mother moved them from their rural Texas home
to Fort Worth. To make ends meet, Hogan took to caddying to make
money, and golf became his road out of poverty. Second, it took Hogan
10 years to win his first professional tournament during which time
he went broke more than once. Hogan practiced until his palms were
cracked and blistered, then soaked his hands in pickle brine to toughen
them up, and practiced some more.34 Finally, he needed 59 days in the
hospital to recover from a near death car accident that left Hogan with a
double fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar bone, and near-fatal blood
clots.35 With courage and perseverance, Hogan demonstrated time and

10 SUCCESS

again that despite a personal tragedy, a decades worth of struggle and a

near death experience success is still possible.
Successful people know that just because it hasnt been done before
doesnt mean it cannot be done. Roger Bannister and the sub-4 minute
mile is a perfect case study. Prior to 1954, many people believed that
4minutes was a physical barrier that no runner could break. On May 6,
1954, Roger Bannister had convinced himself that he could break that
barrier and his effort proved successful. On that day, not succumbing to
the idea that it was impossible, he ran the mile in 3minutes, 59.4seconds. It is also fascinating to examine what happened after Roger
Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. Fifty-six days later, John Landy ran
the 4-minute mile in 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds in Finland. Bannister
and Landy would race each other in the Mile of the Century where
Bannister won in 3 minutes and 58.8 seconds. Within three years, by
the end of 1957, 16 other runners also cracked the 4-minute mile. The
breaking of the 4-minute mile was so significant that Forbes names it
as one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time.36 Bannister had
the courage to do something that no other person was able to do physically. Doing so proved to others that the impossible was indeed possible.
Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) is the current mens record holder with
his time of 3:43.13, while Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) has the womens
record of 4:12.56.37

Have a Bias Toward Action

11

Conclusion
Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, wrote, In real life, strategy
is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like crazy. Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines famously remarked,
We have a strategic plan. Its called doing things.38 Doing things and
having a bias toward action might mean you have to move forward without knowing all the answers. Taking action means you often find yourself
in unchartered territory. Successful people know that they do not have
to have all of the answers. Tim Brown, CEO of the Palo Alto design
firm IDEO, said, I know I dont have all the answers ... nobody does.
Im personally perfectly comfortable admitting that I dont know the answers and that I am more interested in the questions anyway.39 Successful
people have a bias toward action by engaging in deliberate practice, demonstrating the characteristics of a maverick, and exhibiting courageous
behavior. Their lives are built upon the foundation of action and that approach allows them to translate their dreams into reality. This bias toward
action characteristic was summed up nicely by Will Smith: You might
have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be
sexier than me, you might be all of those thingsyou got it on me in nine
categories. But if we get on the treadmill together youre getting off first,
or Im going to die. Its really that simple.40

12 SUCCESS

Questions and Resources for Characteristic#1: Have a bias toward

action
Reading list
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success
Geoff Colvin, Talent is Over-rated: What Really Separates
World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
Daniel H. Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What
Motivates Us
Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion
Changes Everything
Elliroma Gardiner and CJ Jackson, Workplace mavericks:
how personality and risk-taking propensity predicts
maverickism. British Journal of Psychology, November 2012.
Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon, Onward: How Starbucks
Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul
Sue Roe, The Private Lives of the Impressionists
S. Truett Cathy, How Did You Do It, Truett?
Cynthia L. S. Pury and Shane J. Lopez, editors. The Psychology
of Courage: Modern Research on an Ancient Virtue
Videos
Angela Lee Duckworth, The key to success? Grit, TED Talk,
April 2013
Richard St. John, 8 secrets of success, TED Talk, February 2005
Questions
Are you busy just for the sake of being busy?
How often do you say I am so busy? Why do you even say
it in the first place?
Why do you think most people will avoid deliberate practice?
What role does goal setting have in deliberate practice?
Have you dedicated 10,000 hours to one activity?

Have a Bias Toward Action

Do you believe that you can achieve success with deliberate

practice?
What role does self-discipline play in the engagement of
deliberate practice?
Have you ever worked for a maverick? If so, what qualities did
they demonstrate?
Why are mavericks so often misunderstood?
What might people perceive mavericks as threatening?
Do you have any of the following characteristics of a
maverick:
i. Openness
ii. Creativity
iii. Willingness to take risks
iv. Big picture oriented
v. Unafraid to break rules
vi. Perseverance
How often do you demonstrate courage?
Have you admired individuals for their courage?
What holds people back from being courageous?
Where could you use a bit more courage in your life?
Have you helped anyone advance their courage?
Do you have a bias toward action?
Are you willing to engage in deliberate practice, demonstrate
the characteristics of a maverick, or exhibit courageous
behavior?
Have you thought about how hard you are working towards
a goal?

13

14 SUCCESS

Exercises
True Grit Assessment: Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and West Point developed a Grit Scale, presented in
The Intelligent Optimist (November 2012) to test their hypothesis that persistence was as important to success as intelligence. To measure your own grit,
answer the following questions with A meaning very much like me, B mostly
like me, C somewhat like me, D not much like me, and E not like me at all:
1. I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.
2. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.
3. My interests change from year to year.
4. Setbacks dont discourage me.
5. I have been obsessed with a certain idea for a short time, but later
lost interest.
6. I am a hard worker.
7. I often set a goal, but later choose to pursue a different one.
8. I have difficulty maintaining focus on projects that take several
months to complete.
9. I finish whatever I began.
10. I have achieved a goal that took years of work.
11. I become interested in new pursuits every few months.
12. I am diligent.
Determine your grit score: For questions 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 12 assign the
following points: a = 5, b = 4, c = 3, d = 2, e = 1. For questions 2, 3, 5, 7, 8,
and 11 assign the following points: a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, d = 4, e = 5. Now, add
all your points and divide by 12. The maximum score is 5 (meaning you are
extremely gritty) and the lowest is 1 (you have no grit at all).

Have a Bias Toward Action

15

How Good Do You Want To Be? Assessment

Objective: To challenge you to think about the level of performance you
want to achieve during your lifetime.
Directions: All you have to do is answer one question: So how good do
you want to be? Only you can answer this question. Take your time. Do
some research and figure out if you want to be quite good, the best in
the world, or somewhere in between. Like most of the assessments, your
answer to this question will probably change over time.

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.

William Penn

Have a Bias Toward Action

17

Endnotes
1. Jason Fried and David Hansson, Rework, New York, Random House,
2010, p. 196.
2. Ibid.
3. George Bradt, Why Overnight Start-up Success Is A Myth, Forbes,
October 23, 2013.
4. Ibid.
5. Rieva Lesonsky, Is True Grit the Most Important Factor to Success? American Express Open Forum, April 21, 2014.
6. Paul Tough, What if the Secret to Success Is Failure? The New York
Times Magazine, September 14, 2011.
7. Margaret M. Perlis, 5 Characteristics of Grit-How Many Do You
Have? Forbes, October 29, 2013.
8. Kavita Das, Writers Shouldnt Romanticize Rejection, The Atlantic,
November 7, 2015.
9. Ibid.
10. Lucas Reilly, How Stephen Kings Wife Saved Carrie and Launched
His Career, Mental Floss, October 17, 2003.
11. Ibid.
12. Christopher K. Hsee, et al., Idleness Aversion and the Need for
Justifiable Busyness, Psychological Science, July 2010.
13. Tim Kreider, The Busy Trap, The New York Times, June 30, 2012.
14. Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class
Performers from Everybody Else, New York: Portfolio, 2008.
15. Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class
Performers from Everybody Else, New York: Portfolio, 2008.
16. Seth Davis, When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed
Basketball, Times Books: New York City, NY 2009.
17. Wikipedia, Larry Bird, accessed November 10, 2015.
18. Ibid.
19. Larry Schwartz, Plain and simple, Bird one of the best, [Link],
no date.
20. Encyclopedia of World Biography, Larry Bird, accessed December 1,
2015.
21. Seems Awkward, Ignores the Rules, but Brilliant: Meet the Maverick Job Candidate, TIME Magazine, August 29, 2012.

18 SUCCESS

22. For more information see: Devin D. Johnson, Be a Maverick, The

Entrepreneur Mind, 2013.
23. William C. Taylor, Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds
in Business Win, New York, Harper Paperback, 2008.
24. Impressionism: Art and Modernity, [Link]/toah/hd/
imml/hd_imml.htm.
25. Ibid.
26. A detailed story on the Impressionists can be found in Malcom
Gladwell, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, New York, Little, Brown & Co., 2013.
27. How Starbucks Built a Global Brand, UCLA video located at
[Link]/watch?v=_kAiEO6jP48.
28. Ibid.
29. Truett Cathy, How Did You Do It, Truett?: A Recipe for Success, Looking Glass Books, Inc.: Decatur, Georgia, 2007.
30. Ibid.
31. Daniela Schiller, Snakes in the MIR Machine: A Study of Courage,
Scientific American, July 20, 2010.
32. Nicholas Kristof, His Gift Changes Lives, The New York Times,
December 16, 2009.
33. Ibid.
34. Thane Peterson, The Hard Life of a Golfing Great, Businessweek,
June 17, 2004.
35. Damon Hack, Hogans Return: Back From Tragedy to Win the
1950 U.S. Open, Golf, June 24, 2010.
36. David M. Ewalt Lacey Rose, The Greatest Individual Athletic
Achievements, Forbes, January 29, 2008.
37. Mile run world record progression, Wikipedia, accessed December
2, 2015.
38. Ben Casnocha, My Start Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned
on His Journey Through Silicon Valley, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New
York City, NY, 2007.
39. Adam Bryant, He Prizes Questions More Than Answers, The New
York Times interview with Tim Brown, October 24, 2009.
40. Will Smith interview on Tavis Smiley, YouTube uploaded January 3,
2008, [Link]/watch?v=M88uMRwsj0U.

Index
Acceptance
of criticism, 48
of others, 48
Acrylate Copolymer Microspheres, 20
Acuff, Jon
Quitter: Closing the Gap Between
Your Day Job & Your Dream
Job, 101
Adams, Scott, 111112
How to Fail at Almost Everything
and Still Win Big: Kind of the
Story of My Life, 112
Adaptive stress. See Beneficial stress
Adapt: Why Success Always
Startswith Failure (Tim
Harford), 97
Adler, Alfred, 98
Agreeableness, 25
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho), 83
Allais, mile, 80
as the father of modern skiing, 81
Allen, Rick, 112113
Alstin, Terese, 2324
American Mindfulness Research
Association (AMRA), 66
American Psychological Association
Stress in America, 120
Anheuser-Busch, 27
Anxiety, 118
Arden, Paul, 78
Its Not How Good You Are, Its How
Good You Want to Be, 41
Whatever You Think, Think The
Opposite, 78
Aristotle, 8
Arregun-Toft, Ivan, 9899
How the Weak Win Wars, 98
THe Art of Scientific Investigation
(W.I.B. Beveridge), 32
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner),
102103

Associational thinking, 79
Authentic self, 57
Autonomy, 59, 60, 96
Awareness
self-awareness, 46, 47
social, 46
Babin, Leif
Extreme Ownership: How US Navy
SEALs Lead and Win, 58
Bannister, Roger, 9, 10
Bartkowski, Steve, 85
Baucus, Max, 94
Becker, Ernest
The Denial of Death, 68
Beilock, Sian, 118119
Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain
Reveal About Getting It Right
When You Have To, 118
Beneficial stress, 117
Best option to the right one,
comparing, 9598
The Best Place to Work: The Art
and Science of Creating an
Extraordinary Workplace
(RonFriedman), 121
Betsworth, Deborah G., 84
The Categorization of
Serendipitous Career
Development Events, 84
Beveridge, W.I.B.
The Art of Scientific Investigation, 32
Bezos, Jeff, 65
Bird, Larry, 45
Bohn, Paul, 62
Bolles, Richard
What Colour is Your Parachute?, 95
Bomis, 22
Boorman, Arthur, 112, 113
Bradt, George, 1
Branson, Richard, 101

136 INDEX

Breedlove, Sarah. See Madame Walker

Bright, Jim
The Chaos Theory of Careers: ANew
Perspective on Working in
the Twenty-First Century,
104105
Brin, Sergey, 6
Bront, Charlotte, 103
Brooks, Alison Wood
Get Excited: Reappraising
Pre-Performance Anxiety as
Excitement, 117118
Brown, H. Jackson, Jr., 102
Brown, Tim, 11
Bucio, Francisco, 116117
Bucks for Bauman, 29
Budweiser, 27
Buechner, Frederick, 127128
Buncke, Harry, 116
Burnout, types of, 120
Burns, Ursula M., 111
Burt, Ronald S., 30
Busyness, 3
Capecchi, Mario Renato,
9798
Cappelli, Peter, 46
Career decision-making process, 105
Career development
jungle gym metaphor, 94
serendipity and, 84
Carrie (Stephen King), 2
Carson, Shelley H., 7879
Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps
to Maximize Imagination,
Productivity, and Innovation
inYour Life, 79
Casnocha, Ben
The Start-up of You: Adapt to the
Future, Invest in Yourself, and
Transform Your Career, 45, 62
Cason, Kathryn, 77
Cassady, Jack, 111
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller), 103
Cathy, S. Truett, 78
Celeste & Sydney Recovery Fund, 29
Chance events, 84
categories of, 85

The Chaos Theory of Careers: A New

Perspective on Working in the
Twenty-First Century (Robert
Pryor and Jim Bright),
104105
Chapman University Survey of
American Fears, 114
Chasing Daylight: How My
Forthcoming Death
Transformed My Life (Eugene
OKelly), 6768
Chihuly, Dale, 39
Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain
Reveal About Getting It Right
When You Have To (Sian
Beilock), 118
Christopher Lane Fund, 29
Cleese, John, 32
Clutch: Excel Under Pressure (Paul
Sullivan), 119
Coca-Cola, 27
Coelho, Paulo, 8384
The Alchemist, 83
Hell Archives, 83
Cognitive disequilibrium, 61, 62, 81
Cognitive empathy, 47
Coleman, Derrick, 101
Collaboration, 2126
Collaboration: What Makes It Work,
2nd Edition: A Review
of Research Literature on
Factors Influencing Successful
Collaboration (Paul W.
Mattessich, Marta MurrayClose and Barbara R.
Monsey), 21
Collective courage, 8
Colvin, Geoff, 34
Humans Are Underrated: What High
Achievers Know That Brilliant
Machines Never Will, 48
Talent is Over-rated: What Really
Separates World-Class
Performers from Everybody
Else, 3
Commitment, 1
Communication
compelling, 48

 INDEX
137

Compensation dynamics, recognizing,

4445
Competence, 59, 60, 61
interpersonal, 46
Concussion, 128
Connectedness, 59
Conscientiousness, 25
Courage, 810
collective, 8
etymology of, 8
intellectual, 8
moral, 8
physical, 8
Creativity, 7880
Crime Story, 78
Criticism, acceptance of, 48
Crowdfunding, 26, 28
Crowdsourcing, 2628
Crowds, power of, 2629
Cruise, Tom, 8485
Curiosity, 26
A Curious Mind: The Secrete to a Bigger
life (Brian Glazer), 2526
Currey, Mason
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work,
101102

DiCaprio, Leonardo, 93, 94

Disadvantage into advantage, turning,
98101
Disappointment, 61
Disaster survivors, traits of, 115116
Discomfort, 61
cognitive, 61, 62
psychological, 61, 62
Disequilibrium
cognitive, 81
experiencing, 8184
psychological, 81
Dohrenwend, Robert, 99
Do Schools Kill Creativity? (Sir Ken
Robinson), 79
Draper, Don, 42
Drive: The Surprising Truth About
What Motivates Us (Daniel
Pink), 96
Duckworth, Angela, 2
Dudai, Yadin, 8
Dweck, Carol
Mindset: The New Psychology of
Success, 40
Dyer, Jeff, 80
Dyslexic entrepreneurs, 100

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

(Mason Currey), 101102
David and Goliath: Underdogs,
Misfits, and The Art of Battling
Giants (Malcolm Gladwell),
96, 99
Davidson, Richard J., 67
da Vinci, Leonardo, 102
Deci, Edward L., 59
Deep survival tactics, learning,
115118
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who
Dies and Why (Laurence
Gonzales), 115116
Degas, Edgar, 6
Deliberate practice, 35
Deng, Valentino Achak, 9
The Denial of Death (Ernest
Becker), 68
Desperation, 82
Diamond, Rebecca, 44

Echegoyen, Luis, 86
Edelman, Marian Wright
The Measure of Our Success:
A Letter to My Children
andYours, 39
Edmondson, Michael
Marketing Your Value: 9 Steps to
Navigate Your Career, 44
Education, focusing illusion to, 43
Edwards, Christopher, 117
Eggers, Dave
What Is The What: The
Autobiography of Valentino
Achak Deng: A Novel, 9
Ego, 5, 7
Einstein, Albert, 102
El Guerrouj, Hicham, 10
Elliott, Joe, 112
Emotional balance, 47
Emotional empathy, 47
Emotional insight, 47

138 INDEX

Emotional intelligence
(EI), 40
defined, 46
development of, 4648
empathy and, 4748
relationship skills and, 48
self-awareness and, 47
self-management and, 47
Emotional Intelligence (Daniel
Goleman), 46
Empathy, 4748
Environmental law, 85
Extreme Ownership: How US
Navy SEALs Lead and Win
(Jocko Willink and Leif
Babin), 58
Extroversion, 25
Failure, 61, 80
Farina, Dennis, 7778
Faulkner, William
As I Lay Dying, 102103
Fear
definition of, 114
managing, 112115
primary and secondary domains
of, 114
FedEx Corporation, 100
Ferguson, David
The Onion, 101
Fixed mindset individual,
4042
Flight from Death, 68
Focusing effect. See Focusing
illusion
Focusing illusion, 4246
definition of, 42
to education, 43
Food for the Hungry, 104
Fosbury, Dick, 8081
Fosbury Flop, 80, 81
French Skiing Federation, 81
Fried, Jason
Rework, 1
Friedman, Ron
The Best Place to Work: The Art
and Science of Creating an
Extraordinary Workplace, 121

Frost, Robert
My Butterfly: An Elegy, 103
Fry, Art, 19, 20
Gardner, Chris
The Pursuit of Happyness, 5859
Gardner, Daniel, 114115
The Science of Fear: Why We Fear
theThings We Shouldntand
Put Ourselves in Greater
Danger, 114
Gardner, Elliroma, 6
Gardner, John W., 69, 128
Gates, Bill, 6
Gelatt, H.B., 105
General Mills, 28
General Mills Worldwide Innovation
Network (G-WIN), 28
Geography
impact on long-term income
potential and career
success, 44
Get Excited: Reappraising PrePerformance Anxiety as
Excitement (Alison Wood
Brooks), 117118
Gigerenzer, Gerd, 115
Gladwell, Malcolm
David and Goliath: Underdogs,
Misfits, and The Art of Battling
Giants, 96, 99
Outliers: The Story of Success, 3
Glass, Hugh, 9394
Glass, Philip, 103
Glazer, Brian
A Curious Mind: The Secrete to a
Bigger life, 2526
Imagine Entertainment, 26
Night Shift, 26
Splash, 26
Global economy, 45
Godin, Seth
The Icarus Deception: How High Will
You Fly?, 82
GoFundMe, 28
Goldsman, Akiva, 94
Goleman, Daniel
Emotional Intelligence, 46

 INDEX
139

Gonzales, Laurence
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies
and Why, 115116
Surviving Survival: The Art and
Science of Resilience, 116
Good listening, 47
Green, Henry, 103
Gregersen, Hal, 80
Grit, 2, 3
Group Genius: The Creative Power
of Collaboration (Keith
Sawyer), 2122
Growth mindset, 4042, 4952
Gunter, Max
The Luck Factor: Why Some People
Are Luckier Than Others and
How You Can Become One of
Them, 2425
Halvorson, Heidi Grant
No One Understands You and What
to Do About It, 121
Hamermesh, Daniel, 43
Hamm, Jon, 41, 4142
The Hannah, 127
Hansen, Jo-Ida C., 84
The Categorization of
Serendipitous Career
Development Events, 84
Hansson, David Heinemeier
Rework, 1
Hardy, Tom, 93, 94
Harford, Tim
Adapt: Why Success Always Starts
with Failure, 97
Harmful stress, 117
Harmonium (Wallace Stevens), 102
Haupt, Anna, 2324
Hawking, Stephen W., 25
Hedren, Tippi, 103104
Helicopter parenting epidemic,
5960
Hell Archives (Paulo Coelho), 83
Heller, Joseph
Catch-22, 103
Herzberg, Frederick
The Motivation to Work,
4445, 96

High jump, 80
Hitchcock, Alfred, 104
Hoffman, Reid
The Start-up of You: Adapt to the
Future, Invest in Yourself,
andTransform Your Career,
45, 62
Hogan, Ben, 910
Hope for a Home, 29
Hvding, 2324
Howard, Ron
Imagine Entertainment, 26
Night Shift, 26
Splash, 26
How the Weak Win Wars (Ivan
Arregun-Toft), 98
How to Fail at Almost Everything
andStill Win Big: Kind of
the Story of My Life (Scott
Adams), 112
Humans Are Underrated: What High
Achievers Know That Brilliant
Machines Never Will (Geoff
Colvin), 48
Hygiene, and motivation to
work, 45, 96
The Icarus Deception: How High Will
You Fly? (Seth Godin), 82
Ideasproject, 28
Imagine Entertainment, 26
Impressionists, 67
Irritu, Alejandro G., 93, 94
Indiegogo, 28
InnoCentive, 27
Inspiration, 82
Intellectual courage, 8
Interpersonal competence, 46
Its Not How Good You Are, Its How
Good You Want to Be (Paul
Arden), 41
Ives, Charles, 103
Jaques, Elliott, 77
Jefferson, Thomas, 102
Jerry McGuire, 8485
Job changing, reality of, 4546
Job satisfaction, 96

140 INDEX

Jobs, Steve, 6, 69
Jordet, Geir, 119120
Josephson, Stephen, 87
Josipovic, Zoran, 67
Journal of Career Assessment, 84
Jungle gym metaphor, 9495
Kafka, Franz, 102
Kahneman, Daniel, 4243
Thinking Fast and Slow, 42
Kaplan, Robert S, 6263
Kelleher, Herb, 11
Keller, Helen, 102
Kickstarter, 28
Killy, Jean-Claude, 81
Kindlon, Dan, 60
King, Bob, 5
King, Stephen
Carrie, 2
Kovitz, Ben, 23
Kreider, Tim, 3
Landy, John, 10
Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to
Lead (Sheryl Sandberg), 94
LeDoux, Joseph, 113114
Lifelong learning, commitment to
emotional intelligence, developing,
4648
focusing illusion, 4246
growth mindset, 4042
The Luck Factor (Richard
Wiseman), 25
The Luck Factor: Why Some People Are
Luckier Than Others and How
You Can Become One of Them
(Max Gunter), 2425
Madame Walker, 41
Mann, Michael, 77
Man on Wire, 70
Marial Bai Secondary School, 9
Marketing Your Value: 9 Steps to
Navigate Your Career (Michael
Edmondson), 44
Markus, Hazel Rose
Possible Selves, 57
Marshall, William, 127

Massolution
2015 Crowdfunding Industry
Report, 28
Masterkova, Svetlana, 10
Mastery, 96
Masur, Kurt, 93
Mattessich, Paul W.
Collaboration: What Makes It
Work, 2nd Edition: A Review
of Research Literature on
Factors Influencing Successful
Collaboration, 21
Maverick, characteristics of, 58
Maverickism, 6
McGonigal, Kelly, 66
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is
Good for You, and How to Get
Good at It, 117
McWilliams, Moses, 41
The Measure of Our Success: A Letter
to My Children and Yours
(Marian Wright Edelman), 39
Meditation-induced self-awareness,
6669
Mendes, Wendy, 117
Miami Vice, 78
Michaelangelo, 102
Midlife crisis, 77
Mind development, personal growth
and, 98
Mindfulness, 66
Mindset
fixed, 40
growth, 4042, 4952
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
(Carol Dweck), 40
Monet, Claude, 6
Monsey, Barbara R.
Collaboration: What Makes It
Work, 2nd Edition: A Review
of Research Literature on
Factors Influencing Successful
Collaboration, 21
Moral courage, 8
Morisot, Berthe, 6
Mother Teresa, 102
The Motivation to Work (Frederick
Herzberg), 4445, 96

 INDEX
141

Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), 22

Murray-Close, Marta
Collaboration: What Makes It
Work, 2nd Edition: A Review
of Research Literature on
Factors Influencing Successful
Collaboration, 21
My Butterfly: An Elegy (Robert
Frost), 103
National Economic Council, 94
National Science Foundation, 86
National Security Council, 94
Neglect, 120
Neuroscience research, 79
Neuroticism, 25
Never, Ever Give Up.
Arthurs Inspirational
Transformation!, 113
The Nicaragua, 127
Nicholson, Geoff, 20
Night Shift, 26
Nili, Uri, 8
9/11, 114115
Nokia
Ideasproject, 28
No One Understands You and What
to Do About It (Heidi Grant
Halvorson), 121
Nupedia, 23
Nurius, Paula
Possible Selves, 57
OBoyle, Ernest, Jr., 46
Oiticica, Christina, 83
OKelly, Eugene
Chasing Daylight: How My
Forthcoming Death
Transformed My Life, 6768
Omalu, Bennet Ifeakandu, 128
The Onion (David Ferguson), 101
Online personal brand
management, 64
Online privacy, 64
Openness, 25
Open networks, 3032
benefits of, 3132
Options, creating, 93105

via jungle gym, 95

Orfalea, Paul, 99100
Outliers: The Story of Success (Malcolm
Gladwell), 3
Overload, 120
Page, Larry, 6
Paralysis by analysis, 118
Pasteur, 102
Patience, 1
Pawliw-Fry, J.P.
Performing Under Pressure:
The Science of Doing Your
Best When It Matters
Most, 119
Performing Under Pressure: The Science
of Doing Your Best When
It Matters Most (Hendrie
Weisinger and J.P. PawliwFry), 119
Perseverance, 60
Persistence, 1
Personal development
personal growth and, 6263, 84
serendipity and, 84
Personal growth
and professional development, 45,
6263, 97
and mind development, 98
Personality traits, 25
Petit, Philippe, 6970
Physical courage, 8
Pink, Daniel
Drive: The Surprising Truth
About What Motivates
Us, 96
Player Piano (Kurt Vonnegut), 103
Positioning, 6364
Possible selves, 57
Possible Selves (Hazel Rose
Markus), 57
Powell, Willie, 41
Press n Peel, 20
Pressure, performing under,
118120
Professional development
personal growth and, 45, 97
serendipity and, 84

142 INDEX

Pryor, Robert
The Chaos Theory of Careers: A
New Perspective on Working
in the Twenty-First Century,
104105
Psychological disequilibrium,
61, 62, 81
Psychological security, 68
Punke, Michael, 93
The Revenant, 93, 94
Punke, Tim, 94
The Pursuit of Happyness (Chris
Gardner), 5859
Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your
Day Job & Your Dream Job
(Jon Acuff), 101
Real Cause, Real Cure (Jacob
Teitelbaum), 117
Relatedness, 59, 60
Relationship skills, 48
Renoir, August, 6
Resilience, 47
Resolving conflicts, 47
The Revenant (Michael Punke), 93, 94
Rework (Jason Fried and David
Heinemeier Hansson), 1
Right brain/left brain distinction, 79
Risk failure, 40
RMS Titanic, 127
Robinson, Sir Ken
Do Schools Kill Creativity?, 79
Rohn, Jim, 82
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 113
Rudd, Paul, 42
Ryan, Richard M., 59
Sandberg, Sheryl
Lean In: Women, Work and the
Willto Lead, 94
Sanford, Nevitt, 81
Sanger, Larry, 23
Save Fisher More, 29
Saving Eliza, 29
Sawyer, Keith
Group Genius: The Creative Power
of Collaboration, 2122

Schmidt, Eric, 64
Schmit, Mark J., 65
Schrage, Michael, 19
The Science of Fear: Why We Fear
the Things We Shouldnt
and Put Ourselves in
Greater Danger (Daniel
Gardner), 114
Scissoring of the legs technique, 80
Scissor kick technique, 80
Self-awareness, 46, 47, 5776,
81, 129
meditation-induced, 6669
self-determination, 5963
value, market, 6365
Self-concept, 57
Self-confidence, realistic, 47
Self-delusion, 5, 7
Self-determination, 5963
Self-determination theory
(SDT), 59
Self-discovery, 60
Self-improvement, 98
Self-management, 47
Self-motivation, 47
Self-reliance, 60
Self, selves
authentic, 57
possible, 57
single, 57
Self-talk, 118
Sellers, Pattie, 94
Serendipity, 8487
definition of, 84
Shaw, Curry, 127
Shaw, George Bernard, 40
Shoaff, Earl, 82
Shultz, Howard, 7, 8
Silver, Spencer, 19, 20
Sisley, Alfred, 6
Sloan, Bonnie, 100101
Smith, Will, 11, 128
Social awareness, 46
Society for Advancement of Chicanos
and Native Americans in
Science
Summer Leadership Institute, 86
Splash, 26

 INDEX
143

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the

Future, Invest in Yourself,
and Transform Your Career
(Hoffman & Casnocha),
45, 62
Steinberg, Leigh, 8586
Stepping stone, 95
Stevens, Wallace
Harmonium, 102
Straight-on approach technique, 80
Stress in America (American
Psychological Association), 120
Stress reactions, identifying and
managing, 117
Subgenual anterior cingulate cortex
(sgACC), 8
Subtle maneuvers, engagement with,
101104
Successful people
best option to the right one,
comparing, 9598
characteristics of, 129
disadvantage into advantage,
turning, 98101
disequilibrium, experiencing, 8184
high level of energy, maintaining,
111121
options, creating, 93105
serendipity, 8487
subtle maneuvers, engagement with,
101104
thinking pattern of, 7881
Success Inventory, 130131
Sullivan, Paul
Clutch: Excel Under Pressure, 119
Surviving Survival: The Art and
Science of Resilience (Laurence
Gonzales), 116
Talent is Over-rated: What Really
Separates World-Class
Performers from Everybody Else
(Geoff Colvin), 3
Team playing, 48
Teitelbaum, Jacob, 117
Real Cause, Real Cure, 117
Terror management theory
(TMT), 68

The Categorization of Serendipitous

Career Development Events
(Deborah G. Betsworth and
Jo-Ida C. Hansen), 84
Thief , 77
Thinking Fast and Slow (Daniel
Kahneman), 42
Thinking pattern, of success people,
7881
Threatening stress. See Harmful stress
3M, 20
Toffler, Alvin, 39
Traits
of clutch performers, 119
of disaster survivors, 115116
Tugend, Alina, 87
Turner, Ted, 128
Twain, Mark, 113
2015 Crowdfunding Industry
Report, 28
Uncertainty, 77
The Upside of Anger, 112
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is
Good for You, and How to
Get Good at It (Kelly
McGonigal), 117
Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, 9
Value, marketing
self-awareness and, 6365
Vonnegut, Kurt
Player Piano, 103
Wales, Jimmy, 2223
Walker, Charles Joseph, 41
Walker, Kenny, 101
Watson, James D., 9798
Webster, Mike, 128
Weisinger, Hendrie
Performing Under Pressure:
The Science of Doing
Your Best When It Matters
Most, 119
Welch, Jack, 1011
Western roll technique, 80
What Colour is Your Parachute?
(Richard Bolles), 95

144 INDEX

Whatever You Think, Think The

Opposite (Paul Arden), 78
What Is The What: The Autobiography
of Valentino Achak Deng: A
Novel (Dave Eggers), 9
Wikipedia, 22, 23
Wilde, Oscar, 102
Wilder Collaboration Factors, 21
Williams, William Carlos, 103
Willink, Jocko, 5859
Extreme Ownership: How US Navy
SEALs Lead and Win, 58
Wilson, Russell, 101
Wiseman, Richard

The Luck Factor, 25

Wood, Evan Rachel, 112
Wozniak, Steve, 6
Wren, Sir Christopher Michael, 58
Wright Brothers, 19, 20
Wright Co., 19
Yoga for Regular Guys, 113
Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps
to Maximize Imagination,
Productivity, and Innovation
in Your Life (Shelley H.
Carson), 79

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