Manufacturing Success:Change Your Perspective, Change Your Destiny
By Zulfiqar Chaudhry
Los Angeles, CA
Before Islam, gods were fixed. They were articles of nature and had a physical existence. One could touch them and carry them on their shoulders. Then came a Prophet (SWA), who changed the whole perspective of God for Arabs (and later for the world). Now this new God (SWT) was neither fixed, nor could be touched, nor could be carried on shoulders. Instead, this God (SWT) was everywhere. No place to hide from Him. Thus this Prophet (SWA) changed the destiny of his people by changing their perspective about God.
He—Guide, Last Envoy, Lord of All—
Lent brightness of Sinai to our dust - Iqbal
In the field of knowledge, similar change in perspective changed the destiny of humanity. In ancient times, Greeks thought that knowledge could only be transmitted from man to man. This perspective was limiting and fixed. It even hindered the message of the Qur’an for some Muslims. They kept translating the works of Greeks faithfully, while forgetting the message of their Qur’an that even a humble bee can be a source of inspiration (indeed, there’s a whole Surah in the Qur’an named after the Bee, An-Nahl). Once they woke up to this realization (that knowledge, like God, is everywhere), it unleashed their powers of discovery. Empiric study of nature and history became the norm. Scientific method was born. Countless inventions came into existence in all domains of knowledge. Thus, change in perspective (from fixed to growth mindset), changed the destiny of human race.
My sharp vision pierced through the core of existence;
Confounded by my illusions at yet another time - Iqbal
A mental shift in perspective, from a fixed to a growth mindset, as was the case with “God” and “knowledge,” holds the key to manufacturing success. Dr Carol Dweck, psychologist at the Stanford University, in her seminal book, Mindset, gives many examples from different domains (education, sports, business, etc.) to make this simple point: fixed mind set leads to ultimate failure, while growth mindset leads to continuous success.
So what’s the definition of fixed and growth mindsets? Growth mindset is the perception and an attitude that there’s no such thing as “failure.” Every challenge, every ordeal, every setback is pregnant with lesson: it helps us learn, grow, and improve our condition. It inculcates humility and the Qur’anic attitude “that even a humble bee can be a source of inspiration.” It chokes Ibleesian arrogance, and cultivates Adam-like humility. It does not treat others as lower in status than itself (like Iblees thought his fiery existence better than Adam’s dusty existence), instead it treats everyone, higher or lower in status, with deep respect and gratitude. It also inculcates deep reverence for the Ultimate Reality. It does not shy away from reality, in fact, it relentlessly seeks Reality. It does not surround itself with “yes men”, who are ever ready to sing its praises and hide true reality from its eyes (like many of our narcissistic politicians), rather it seeks criticism, hard data, to continuously improve itself (its company and its country.) Let’s look at some examples of growth mindset (GMS).
Example #1 of GMS: when Jack Welch became CEO of GE in 1980, it was worth 14 billion, when he left GE twenty years later, it was worth 490 billion. Not only did he increase the value of his company, he nurtured many of his executive to become successful CEO of numerous other companies. How did he do it? Through growth mindset. He never considered himself to be ‘know-it all’; he always shared his credit with others; he was never threatened by more intelligent and creative people,like some of fixed mindset (FMS) CEO, like Albert Dunlap and Lee Iacocca, were. He went to front-lines employees to understand the true health and culture of his company, instead of insulating himself in expensive offices (like Iacocca, who spent $2 million renovating his office, while his company was sinking), nor did he live lavishly like a king (like most of our Pakistani politicians). Steve Bennett, CEO of Intuit, said of Jack Welch, “I learned about nurturing employees from my time at General Electric from Jack Welch…He’d go directly to the front-lines employee to figure out what was going on. Sometime in the early 1990s, I saw him in a factory where they made refrigerators in Louisville…He went right to the workers in the assembly line to hear what they had to say. I do frequent CEO chats with front-line employees. I learned that from Jack.” (Dweck, 2006, p 126).
Example #2 of GMS: Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace the game. Yet, he never considered himself a “natural”. In fact, he learned from his failures and worked extremely hard to continuously improve his game. He was not selected to his High School varsity team; he wanted to play for North Carolina State, but he was not good enough to be recruited by them; even in the NBA, first two teams passed him over for other more “attractive” players. According to Dr Dweck, “when Jordan was cut from the varsity team (in High School), he was devastated. His mother says, “I told him to go practice before school. Boy, did he listen. He used to leave the house at six in the morning to go practice before school. At the University of North Carolina, he constantly worked on his weaknesses—his defensive game and his ball handling and his shooting. The coach was taken aback by his willingness to work harder than anyone else. Once, after the team lost the last game of the season, Jordan went back and practiced his shots for hours. He was preparing for the next year. Even at the height of his success and fame—after he had himself into an athletic genius—his dogged practice remained legendary. Former Bulls assistant coach John Back called him, “a genius who constantly wants to upgrade his genius.” (Dweck, 2006, p.86).
However, we Pakistanis are a hopeful people. We have been waiting for a Messiah to solve our intractable problems. Never mind personal responsibility and development of talent through hard work. We believe that talent is inborn: you either have it or you don’t. Look at Iqbal, Rumi, Razi, and Ghazali. They were born geniuses. Only a naïve would think they had to work hard to acquire their talent.
Like Rumi, Attar, Ghazzali and Razi, One may be mystic great or wise,
But none can reach his goal and aim without the help of morning sighs.
(In the next essay, we will discuss the ‘fixed mindset’ and some of its prominent examples.)
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