Motivation,
Morale, Competence: The
Secret of Success!Motivation,
Morale, Competence: The
Secret of Success!Mon 2/23/2009 11:59 am. It’s all you need! ... I.e., re qualifications for the CEO, chief pooh-bah, whatever. ... I already had motivation and competence, but then I read Joel Spolsky in the otherwise-wretched Inc magazine, and he provided the “morale” component....
Motivation is all-important. Without it, the rest is useless. Successful businessmen really want success. Really really....
However, they have to be happy! ... It’s no good getting all gloomy when things go bad; even if a rational person should be gloomy at that point. ... “Boss, half the staff have just died horribly from a strange extraterrestrial Ebola-like virus!” ... “Well, that may be so; but we’ve still got those orders to get out!”....
Finally, the incompetent would rarely be motivated and happy, but should that happen by some chance, probably they won’t do. ... You don’t necessarily have to know where the electrons go; but you have to be competent-enough to hire people who do....
And
that’s all there is to it! That’s all you need to make Big
Bucks!
(I lied; see below) ... I
have no motivation at all, 
so I’m out at first and so are most
people. ... The very circumstances of our society — our relative
wealth
and
leisure — are against it; which is why successful businessmen often
have deprived backgrounds; they get in the habit of really
wanting things....
I consider the motivation thing like 50 to 90% of the deal, but Spolsky quotes some friend who describes the typical startup failure as “they lose interest”, “they wander off”. ... I don’t think any support was offered for this unscientific notion, but it’s obvious: they’re not having fun, a common affliction of our modern society but one not suffered by the old annoying person — probably including Spolsky — who may thus become qualified to lead vast realms....
We feel that seekers of wealth and power have to be competent — don’t they?!?! — but I consider it the least important part. ... Obviously it would help (we hope); but the world seems full of wildly-successful people who at least appear to be extremely dumb....
Dang! I forgot another! ... We — me and the LOL
— have noticed that many otherwise seemingly ready-for-prime-time
types can’t hack it because they can’t 
tell people where to go! ... Yell
at them! ... Fire them! ... You
actually see things in these silly articles — I think Inc
had one — about how bad it is to yell at people, and how one must
control that sort of thing at all costs, and no doubt that’s true
to
some extent. ... A tantrum does not a triumph make....
... But nevertheless, motivation, morale ’n’ competence won’t help much if you can’t get rid of the incompetent receptionist. ... And we can all tell ourselves that’s why we’re not rich ’n’ famous: too nice....
