Never give in

Posted: September 25th, 2009 | Filed under: life purpose | Tags: personal development | No Comments »

Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great” (one of the best business books you will ever read) has written a new book examining failures and successes; lessons that apply in both our work and our personal lives.

So many of us at the moment are suffering setbacks in our lives having been made redundant; now looking for new employment or working out how to work for ourselves. In the difficult days “never give in” is encouragement you really want to hear.

“The main message of our work remains: we are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our setbacks, our history, our mistakes, or even staggering defeats along the way. We are freed by our choices.

The signature of the truly great versus the merely successful is not the absence of difficulty, but the ability to come back from setbacks, even cataclysmic catastrophes, stronger than before. Great nations can decline and recover. Great companies can fail and recover. Great social institutions can fail and recover. And great individuals can fail and recover. As long as you never get entirely knocked out of the game, there always remains hope.

“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Winston Churchill

Never give in. Be willing to change tactics, but never give up your core purpose. Be willing to kill failed business ideas, even to shutter big operations you’ve been in for a long time, but never give up on the idea of building a great company. Be willing to evolve into an entirely different portfolio of activities, even to the point of zero overlap with what you do today, but never give up on the principles that define your culture. Be willing to embrace the inevitability of creative destruction, but never give up on the discipline to create your own future. Be willing to embrace loss, to endure pain, to temporarily lose freedoms, but never give up on the ability to prevail. Be willing to form alliances with former adversaries, to accept necessary compromise, but never – ever – give up on your core values.

The path out of darkness begins with those exasperatingly persistent individuals who are constitutionally incapable of capitulation. It’s one thing to suffer a staggering defeat – as will likely happen to every enduring business and social enterprise at some point in its history – and entirely another to give up on the values and aspirations that make the protracted struggle worthwhile. Failure is not so much a physical state as a state of mind: success is falling down and getting up one more time, without end.”

Jim Collins, “How the Mighty Fall. And Why Some Companies Never Give In”

Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great” (one of the best business books you will ever read) has written a new book examining failures and successes; lessons that apply in both our work and our personal lives.

So many of us at the moment are suffering setbacks in our lives having been made redundant; now looking for new employment or working out how to work for ourselves. In the difficult days “never give in” is encouragement you really want to hear.

“The main message of our work remains: we are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our setbacks, our history, our mistakes, or even staggering defeats along the way. We are freed by our choices.

The signature of the truly great versus the merely successful is not the absence of difficulty, but the ability to come back from setbacks, even cataclysmic catastrophes, stronger than before. Great nations can decline and recover. Great companies can fail and recover. Great social institutions can fail and recover. And great individuals can fail and recover. As long as you never get entirely knocked out of the game, there always remains hope.

“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Winston Churchill

Never give in. Be willing to change tactics, but never give up your core purpose. Be willing to kill failed business ideas, even to shutter big operations you’ve been in for a long time, but never give up on the idea of building a great company. Be willing to evolve into an entirely different portfolio of activities, even to the point of zero overlap with what you do today, but never give up on the principles that define your culture. Be willing to embrace the inevitability of creative destruction, but never give up on the discipline to create your own future. Be willing to embrace loss, to endure pain, to temporarily lose freedoms, but never give up on the ability to prevail. Be willing to form alliances with former adversaries, to accept necessary compromise, but never – ever – give up on your core values.

The path out of darkness begins with those exasperatingly persistent individuals who are constitutionally incapable of capitulation. It’s one thing to suffer a staggering defeat – as will likely happen to every enduring business and social enterprise at some point in its history – and entirely another to give up on the values and aspirations that make the protracted struggle worthwhile. Failure is not so much a physical state as a state of mind: success is falling down and getting up one more time, without end.”

Jim Collins, “How the Mighty Fall. And Why Some Companies Never Give In”