(apologies for the long link)
http://www.siliconvalley.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/8E779766-1E07-44B5-85D6-59F942C26839/0/030107_Stanford_Eweek_GuyKawasaki.pdf

Key quote:

“One of the differences you notice between people from Silicon Valley and people from other places are their attitude to failure. In other places you either do everything right and succeed or do things wrong and fail. This is not the way is works in Silicon Valley. Here people understand that failure is the first cousin to success.”

SECOND ARTICLE:

http://www.sanjosemagazine.com/main/?p=376

Key quote:

“Another difference in Silicon Valley is how extensively companies encourage risk-taking among their workers. Dando says that people from other regions tell her that Silicon Valley is a special area for that corporate quality. Unlike any other place in the world, they say, companies in the Valley encourage their workers to “think outside the box” and be adventurous in coming up with exciting new ideas and products to survive in a competitive market. People are not criticized for their failures, and this sense of worker trust helps stimulate a much richer environment for innovation. “This is something that’s not tangible, but there’s some kind of synergy that occurs in this valley, and it encourages people to climb out from under their security blankets and try new things,”Dando says. “In Silicon Valley, it’s not shameful to try something and fail. In many cases, it’s a badge of honor.”

My sense is that most people need an external event to make a big life change. Most people seem fairly risk averse (appropriately so) when it comes to their career/job.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are people that act without thinking. They don’t need an external event to get into trouble. They do it all on their own.

Somewhere in the middle are the fortunate few that are willing to take risks that most of us aren’t, but in a way that their preparation or perhaps their innate ability causes them to succeed.

A few weeks ago I read an article about how failed companies were seen as a badge of honor in Silicon Valley. I can’t find the article now, but in searching for it I found two other interesting articles.

Since this comment is long already, I’ll leave the two articles in the next comment.

Your question comes down to the definition of Faith. Sometimes I really don’t know. Should you leave your job to strive for excellence? Should you wait until you get the boot? When I have taken the faith route and thrown all caution to the wind, I seem to do worse. During the times in my life when I have had no faith, I have done the best. When I have cried out to God, I have done well. When I have utilized positive thinking, things have gone from bad to worse. I wonder if I’m being tested — or what exactly is going on? How shall we then live? That is the question. I’m still trying to figure it out.

My question is whether or not you’re the type of person that requires some time of external event to make such a decision. I frequently think that it would be difficult for me to find another job with equal tangible and intangible benefits. But then again, if forced by a layoff or other major change I think that I’d be more motivated to search out something new. It makes me wonder if I’m managing my career in too passive a manner. Thoughts?

There are so many jobs out there and it just never made sense to me why people work jobs they hate. All it requires is motivation and self-discipline. If you have these two traits, anything is possible.

tracy ho
wisdomgettingloaded