Nadellaissance. Blomberg Businessweek coined that word to
describe the effect CEO Satya Nadella has on Microsoft. Microsoft has more
subscribers than Netflix, more cloud computing revenue than Google, and a
near-trillion-dollar market cap and has overtaken Apple, Amazon and Alphabet to
become the world’s most valuable company.
“At Microsoft we have this very bad habit of not being able
to push ourselves because we just feel very self-satisfied with the success
we’ve had,” Nadella says. “We’re learning how not to look at the past."
Sometimes, we think that our past success is predictive of great things in our future. This is not necessarily a bad thing. But sometimes we sit there with godlike feelings when someone tries to make us change our ways and we think they don't know what they're talking about. We go into denial mode - the criticism does not apply to us, or else we couldn't be so successful.
That's the paradox of success: what got us here may be holding us back in our quest to go there.
According to a poll, nearly 1/3 of American adults have a tattoo these days. About one in four laments the decision. Why? Tattoos can last far longer than the desire to get one. No wonder tattoo removal is now the fastest-growing cosmetic procedure in the world.
On the other end of the scale, we can't complete the past until we acknowledge what we've already experienced. We can't just ignore it or wish it away. Many of us have endured some real shocks, even catastrophes. Maybe you lost a relationship. Maybe you lost a loved one. Maybe you experienced an accident, an illness, a violent attack, or a total loss of your business. Unless and until you deal with traumatic events, they can influence and even define your future in deeply unhealthy ways.
What are the major lessons you learned this year so far? Unless we learn from our experiences, we can't grow. Maybe it was strategic planning - you wish you had done more of that in your business. Maybe you wished you had saved more money, played more with your kids, or worked out more. Just for example, here's mine: "There comes a point in every experience when I'm too far in to quit but almost certain I can't finish. If I keep moving forward, I'll eventually end up on the other side." I'm still not done learning this lesson.
No one does well under a crushing burden of regret. Thankfully, our minds have natural processes like reframing to take the weight off, especially when there's little chance to fix the situation. We've recognized that since forever. It's where we get folk wisdom like "time heals all wounds." So when the regret bomb blew up in my life, I slowly and painfully began to reevaluate and reorient my priorities.
My new rule: whenever things go wrong, wait and see what better thing is coming. We are not stuck where we are unless we decide to be.
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