The cost of everyone winning.

       A recent conversation with someone got me thinking.  See, this person was insisting that they could be good at their job, despite not knowing anything about it.  Now this was not a doctor, thank God, but still a position that REQUIRES a degree of knowledge.  I will not spill the profession, because it might embarrass the person, (see, I can grow), but essentially this would be someone claiming they could be a chef, because they know how a microwave works, and no one ever orders eggs Benedict anyway.

       This person was boastful about the depths of their ignorance, and unfazed by the fact that this not only makes them bad at their job, but speaks volumes about their character.  Someone who refuses to even crack a book, open a web page, or listen to a book on tape, about their current position, will likely never be good in any position.  "Been doing this for years, and only needed to know that stuff a few times": kind of thing.  Possibly it isn't needed, possibly word got out that this person was not able to perform.  Either way, I was reminded of two things.

       First, this was someone raised in the generation of participation trophies.  You know, 35 kids in a competition, it would hurt someone's feelings if they didn't win something, so everyone gets the same trophy.  First off, you aren't fooling the kids, they know if they did a good job or not.  Second, not only does this reinforce to the ones who would not have won, that losing is just as good, there is a, much worse, more insidious effect.

       Also, from the perspective of someone who performed well enough to win: why did they bother?  If all rewards are the same, regardless of performance, there is no incentive to try.  Ask a human resources person if this attitude is reflected among people of a certain age and you will hear a resounding: "Yes".  I've talked to small business owners who will not hire anyone under 30, because of this groomed, generational, defect.  

       "What business does this have on a mostly political blog?", I can hear you asking.  What type of quality production was the old Soviet Union known for?  What quality are Chinese-made goods now known for?  Is there an incentive to do better when everyone gets the same reward?  We have a generation that was groomed to have the same work ethic as someone from a communist country.  Since they had the idea reinforced at a young age, most have never given anything enough effort to see it disproved as adults.

       As a parent, I am seeing this trend now reversing.  Children are being rewarded when they do well, not just for showing up.  So there is hope.  But we will have a lost generation of people quite happy to never try, to never know success, and never know failure, which is what makes the success worth trying for.  They will happily never achieve success, and be critical of those in their generation who do.  (Note, if you are one of the ones who do try, it doesn't take much to shine).

       I will leave you with the words of a much more inspirational, and likely smarter, certainly braver, man than myself:  Theodore Roosevelt.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”