The Two Deuces or Why Winning Isn’t Everything
The Two Deuces or Why Winning Isn’t Everything
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
We live in a competitive world, a Darwinian, capitalist world, but I contend that winning can be dysfunctional when pursued merely for the sake of the win.
Sometimes the closest theater seats are far from the best; the newest technology rapidly purchased is full of glitches; the tough restaurant seats are obtained amidst a loud and overwhelming crowd.
All of us learn best when we occasionally have the chance to win (a game, an experience, a contest, an event). When we constantly lose because people more adept and highly competitive keep winning, we lose interest. If you keep beating your kid at chess the kid might become too discouraged to try harder. When you keep reminding your kids that their high scores or athletic achievements, while impressive, are still not as good as yours were, well, that sort of undermines any kind of reward, doesn’t it?
I don’t consider negotiations with contractors as “win or lose” because I don’t mind the contractor “winning” a higher fee if it gains me priority, commitment, and excellent work. I refuse to try to “win” in stupid games, such as shooting a water gun into a target on the boardwalk at the beach, where it’s not really about skill and the prizes are worth about $1.79 in any case.
Constantly trying to win exacts a high energy toll and creates unnecessary stress. During the course of the day, how many competitions do you really have to “win”? Does it include merging before someone ahead of you in traffic can?
Welcome to road rage and, perhaps, life rage.
Alan Weiss’s The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
