Success: Bill Gates v. the Dalai Lama

The more we study the science of success, the more we realize how critical it is to define it. Only then will we know whether we've reached it... or whether it's the kind we even want.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his best-selling book Outliers, asserts, unconventionally, that success is not about how hard we work or how much we overcome - sure, those are important - but rather about where we come from, specifically, (1) the year we were born and (2) the status and history of our family. The answers to those two questions will predict stratospheric success more than anything else.

But while Malcolm's explanation of success is unconvential, his definition of it is not. He frames success as does conventional wisdom - along the lines of money, power, fame. Bill Gates is clearly a success. So are the Beattles. Both examples in Malcolm's book.

But what about the Dalai Lama? That is to say, are there not other measures of success, alternatives to money, power, fame? What about happiness? or fulfillment? or inner peace?

Well, those things are simply harder to define. How exactly do we define happiness? How do we use it as a benchmark to determine the degree to which someone has it? With money, it's easy - How much does someone make or have in the bank? But with happiness, it's nebulous at best.

This is a measurement problem. There's no way to measure happiness like there is to measure money. Where there's a measurement problem, there's a credibility problem. And where there's a credibility problem, people don't buy in.

Malcolm could have written a book about success defined as happiness, fulfillment, and inner peace - in fact, we would have loved to have read it - but he might have had a problem with readership buy-in, and ultimately, book sales. In a world - or at least, a country (America) - that defines success as how much money we accumulate, power we amass, and fame we attract, low book sales would have been a problem.

This entry is not meant as a critique of Malcolm's book (we really liked it) or his values (we suspect he's a good person). We simply use his book as a reference point and catalyst for thought and conversation.

We'd love to hear from you. Do you buy-in to this alternative definition of success? Or do you think it's just a rationalization of reality? Put another way: Are you drawn to the type of success achieved by Bill Gates or the Dalai Lama? Comment here or write us at thepoppedkernel@gmail.com.

Chester Elton: A Carrot a Day...

We recently sat down with Chester Elton, best-selling author of The Carrot Principle and sought-after international speaker. As one of the world’s leading experts in employee engagement, he’s just as excitable in conversation as he is on stage. Beyond his stage presence though is his story.

Chester is a faithful man. He believes in something bigger than himself and in the service of and for others. Faith, whether religious or not, has become an emerging theme in the success stories we’ve followed thus far. It makes sense when you think about it. Faith is the glue that bridges today's unknown to tomorrow's success.

He’s also family-oriented – another recurring theme. He considers himself “madly in love” with his wife and his boys “exceptional.” His parents were together for 65 years. In fact, he considers them his "first managers." In short, he comes from good family stock.

Chester keeps a detailed journal, so we know (or at least surmise) that he has healthy self-awareness... and discipline. And what does he use to write in those journals? Fountain pens – limited edition and rare. Why? They force him to think when he writes.

Of service, he says, “A life of service is a life well-spent." He even goes further to say, “Learn to serve people. When you do, it’s good for business (too).”

As for luck, he likes to quote Larry Bird, who said “The more I practice, the luckier I get” after having made a game winning shot from the floor, on his back, in a consequential playoff game. Chester does believe that hard work breeds luck.

When it comes to failure, Chester exposes his Canadian roots with a ski analogy: “If you’re not falling, you’re not skiing.” Chester's personal run-in with failure came in Hartford, CT where he worked in TV ad sales and where he “failed pretty spectacularly." Ultimately, he grew stronger as a people leader and is now a renowned expert of it and best-selling author because of it.

As his mom always told him, “It doesn’t matter how you start; it matters how you finish.”

Find out more about Chester and his success story in our audio interview...

Patrick Lencioni: Let Passion be Your Guide

Patrick "Pat" Lencioni, author of best-selling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and founder of organizational management consultancy The Table Group, embodies what The Popped Kernel is all about - follow your passion, even in the face of risk, to reach your full potential. We interviewed him recently to understand who he really is and what's behind his success. Here are a few takeaways from our conversation (we plan to post the audio interview soon).

Pat is a faithful family man. He makes it very clear that family comes first. Knowing his priorities early on allowed him to set up his company and manage his time in a way that affords him both professional success and personal fulfillment.

He insists that his success - or at least the degree to which he's realized it - was not planned, but simply a side effect of doing what he loves. He genuinely believes that if you do what you're passionate about, then everything else will fall into place (and then some). His experience has proven it.

He remembers facing several risks as he contemplated jumping from secure corporate gig to starting his own firm - his savings, his reputation, the careers of four founding employees. With knowledge of the risks, strong faith, and lots of support from his wife, he said no to two corporate job offers - one from Steve Jobs and the other from Eric Schmidt (now CEO of Google) - in favor of opening his own firm. He started very small, remained positive in outlook, and focused his energy on simply making it work.

When making the jump to do your own thing, Pat's view bucks conventional wisdom. He does not believe that it makes sense to pursue your passion part-time to test the waters, while maintaining your corporate gig. Rather, if you're passionate about something, let that passion work to your advantage. Don't hold it back.

Pat's view of failure is real and comforting - don't fear it, embrace it. It will help you find your path. For Pat, that failure happened early in his career at Bain & Company when he realized number crunching wasn't for him. That realization led to an interest and pursuit of organizational management. Today, he is one of the most widely recognized forces in the field of organizational management.

Pat is living proof that if you follow your passion, then good things will happen.

Check out the audio interview here: