Morale: Motivating Ourselves to Do Hard Things
People often use irrational optimism to motivate themselves when facing difficult tasks, downplaying baseline odds and selectively focusing on reasons for optimism. This morale helps decision-makers build enthusiasm and conviction, but can lead to ignoring risks and alternative plans.
THE IDEA
MORALE: MOTIVATING OURSELVES TO DO HARD THINGS
I wrote this book while living in San Francisco, the city where everyone and their Uber driver has a vision for the next billion-dollar tech company. Out here, it’s common wisdom that irrational optimism is a good thing—it’s what motivates you to launch yourself into daunting challenges, ignore the naysayers, and persevere when things get tough. Small wonder then that in one survey of entrepreneurs, almost everyone estimated their company’s probability of success to be at least 7 out of 10, with a third giving themselves an eyebrow-raising 10 out of 10 chance, despite the fact that the baseline rate of start-up success is closer to 1 in 10.10
One strategy we use to justify such high confidence is downplaying the relevance of the baseline odds and telling ourselves that success is purely a matter of trying hard enough. As one motivational blogger promised, “[You] have 100% chance of being successful at doing what you love if you commit yourself to it and get off your ass and do it every day.”11
Another mental move is to selectively focus on the features of a situation that justify optimism, while ignoring those that justify pessimism. When I was starting an organization, I was aware that most organizations fail, but I reassured myself with the thought, “We’re in a better position than most because we already have a network of backers.” This was true, and a reason for optimism. But I could instead have observed, “Our organization is in a worse position than most because all of us are young and inexperienced,” which was also true.
We need morale to make tough decisions and act on them with conviction. That’s why decision-makers often avoid considering alternative plans or downsides to their current plan. A sociologist named Nils Brunsson spent time embedded in a Swedish company in the 1970s and observed that when they held meetings to “decide” on a project to work on, they actually spent very little time comparing options. Instead, they quickly anchored on one option and spent most of the meeting raising points in favor of it. “This helped them to build up enthusiasm for projects—an enthusiasm that they deemed necessary to overcome difficulties,” Brunsson concluded.12
• • •
Comfort, self-esteem, and morale are emotional benefits, meaning that the ultimate target of our deception is ourselves. The next three benefits of soldier mindset are a little different. Persuasion, image, and belonging are social benefits—in these cases, the ultimate target of our deception is other people, by way of ourselves.13
When to use it
Starting a new venture or business, where optimism is needed to overcome initial hurdles but must be tempered with realistic risk assessment.
Embarking on a personal fitness or learning challenge where morale is crucial for persistence.
Making strategic decisions in a team where building enthusiasm is important, but groupthink and overconfidence must be avoided.
When facing a difficult task that requires sustained effort, using selective optimism to stay motivated while also considering fallback plans.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Entrepreneur Overconfidence Survey
In a survey of entrepreneurs, almost everyone estimated their company's probability of success to be at least 7 out of 10, with a third giving themselves a 10 out of 10 chance, despite the baseline rate of start-up success being closer to 1 in 10.
Motivational Blogger's Promise
A motivational blogger promised that you have 100% chance of being successful at doing what you love if you commit yourself to it and work daily.
Author's Organization Experience
When starting an organization, the author focused on the optimistic fact that they had a network of backers, ignoring the pessimistic fact that they were young and inexperienced.
Swedish Company Decision Meetings
Sociologist Nils Brunsson observed that during project decision meetings, the company quickly anchored on one option and spent most time raising points in favor, to build enthusiasm deemed necessary to overcome difficulties.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a time you faced a challenging goal. Did you overestimate your chances of success? How did that affect your motivation and decision-making?
Have you ever avoided considering alternative plans or downsides to maintain morale? What were the consequences?
How can you balance the need for optimism to motivate yourself with the need for realistic assessment to avoid failure?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Scout Mindset (Julia Galef)