You've Never Done That Before

Like most everyone I do pay attention to mass media. It's hard to avoid and should not be avoided since so much good and timely news comes to us from them. We do need to remain wary since there is a lot of blather in the mix, some of it downright intellectually insulting.

One of the common trite themes in the media (and, yes, also in blogs) is to critique those who aspire to a position or level they have never before held. It is so easy to say: he or she has never done that before. That becomes a platform from which the commentator then goes on to demean or dismiss the person. I find that incredibly irritating, especially since the message is so often coming from a mediocre journalist or "talking head" analyst who have themselves never achieved much of anything.

This style of put down is ridiculous. If no one ever tried to achieve objectives that they've never before accomplished every human being would remain in their cribs for life. Never tried crawling before? Who do you think you are, baby? And, walking? Well, you can't even crawl yet. This is the domain of the incorrigible pessimist, the lazy or incompetent (hate to see others succeed) and schadenfreude (like to see others fail).

This particular subject came to mind as I read about Yahoo!'s new CEO, Carol Bartz. I was quite astonished at the number of articles and other commentary that criticized her for never having run a company like Yahoo! before, and that this portends dire consequences for both her and the company. Of course we also heard the same thing about Obama and the presidency both during and after the campaign. We get the same in domestic politics, with the wags going nuts saying, "I told you so," after Dion bombed out. But at least he tried which is more than can be said of so many of the naysayers. Since when is striving and failing an indictable offense. It's about improving ourselves and others, or at least making a valiant attempt. Bartz may fail, but then, like Zafirovski at Nortel, she is taking on quite a challenge. Good for her, I say.

I'm sure you could come up with countless other examples, from sports team (they've never won the cup before), individual athletes (how can he possibly expect to break that world record), to friends and family (she's never run before so she'll surely hurt herself trying to improve her health). I also see it a lot in the Ottawa technology community. Investors are always willing to bet on people who have successfully built (and exited) a start-up, yet are frequently dismayed at the idea of betting on an untested team. But to avoid doing so is holding good people down, and miss potentially high returns (with the customary risks). What you then see are many budding entrepreneurs cut down and opportunities lost. It's a shame. If Ottawa's tech scene continues to decline this attitude will be partly to blame; it is wrong to blame the problem solely on the those who are making the attempt. That is what happens in private with many I have known, even if the public reasons for failure are quite different.

Regardless of what your own endeavour may be, in business, community action, amateur athletics, or even making your own furniture, listen to yourself. The critics may be right, but critics by their nature always criticize and especially if you attempt something they have not had the courage to attempt. They don't know and perhaps you don't either. Try something new occasionally anyway. Failure isn't so bad since you're sure to learn something, maybe even something important.