Comments on: the complexity war a.ka. “success is more complex than failure”

By: Copywriters Needed- No Experience Required- $200/hr

Copywriters Needed- No Experience Required- $200/hr — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:25:56 +0000

That is so true. Many people are afraid to succeed more than if they fail. While it is true, some people are such perfectionist, that they are afraid to try in fear that they will fail, most people rather dodge success. They cannot compute how things will change for them and the level of hard work you must put into a venture once you truly succeed! Good post.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 16:54:08 +0000

I believe some of the invisible contributors to success are in the lessons that parents teach their kids. My motto: if we don’t teach our kids how to succeed they can only do so by accident.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:38:27 +0000

Yes, success is more complicated for the simple reason there are a near infinity of ways to do it WRONG. Finding out how to do it right is *one* of the complexities.
On another note of right ways; I don’t see a pre-order coupon for the book, is that on the publisher’s site?? And who’s publishing??
Keep it up.

By: Aidan Kehoe

Aidan Kehoe — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:48:39 +0000

I disagree with this, I think the two are orthogonal. The complexity needs to be there for a reason, it shouldn’t be a result of archaicisms or superstitions, and often complex organisations are laden with both.

By: Rait Ojasaar

Rait Ojasaar — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:45:30 +0000

To overcome failure one needs to succeed in recovering, which suggests that in a way failure breeds complexity (provided that the one who failed will seek to recover from the situation in the first place). Complexity of recovering from failure can be harderd by several magnitudes as you have to first get back to zero before continuing your climb upwards.

By: BonnieL

BonnieL — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:30:30 +0000

Hugh, does today’s post hold the answer to the question you asked in your “Back from the Road Trip” post?
*How the heck am I going to manage all the stuff I’ve currently got going on, AND find the time to draw cartoons.*
best,
bonnieL

By: Fluffy the Destroyer

Fluffy the Destroyer — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:40:35 +0000

For some a “perfect day of FAIL” could be considered a luxury. If FAIL means eating a slice of last nights pizza… while watching Bugs Bunny cartoons and blowing bong hits at the dog. I want FAIL. There were times in my life where I would given my eye tooth to turn off my cell and email and make it stop. Just for a day. If that is FAIL, I want EPIC FAIL at least once a month.
Even Jehovah took a day off. I wonder what he did on his down time. I think that is where the platypus came from.… a bottle of Jack, a couple of joints and some quality FAIL time… no pressure, no stock holders.… just a box of spare parts, a Sunday afternoon and singular mission of “WTF is THAT?”.

By: gregorylent

gregorylent — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:12:29 +0000

no one learns anything from success. one only learns from failure, when things fall apart. and that is when you’ll see some real complexity.
you have it backwards. success is doing one thing intensely, in all its facets.
failure is complexity in action, and not simple at all.

By: Michael Laine

Michael Laine — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:47:03 +0000

I’ve been a ‘success’ and a ‘failure’… It is MUCH more fun being a success. But sometimes you just CAN’T hang on to it — no matter what you do. The ‘Complexity War’ might be one of the best phrases I’ve ever seen for that problem. It instantly evokes the next concept “Fog of War” and the 2 images certainly tell my story very well.
Once again, another home-run of pithy one-liners. Seriously, you could write your whole next book on clever one-liners that force people to think. A book of ‘twitter-sized’ thought problems…
Take care, and keep up the good work. I look forward to reading (and BUYING and you getting paid for it) your first book.
Michael Laine
“Space Elevator Guy”

By: Vitor - The Fractal Forest

Vitor - The Fractal Forest — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:16:11 +0000

Hugh,
The solution to business complexity is simple. Who said you have to grow beyond the level at which your model is effective? Just don’t.

By: Gerald Guido

Gerald Guido — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:44:44 +0000

There is something to be said for a “perfect day of FAIL”. If you are going to do something you might as well do it right, including slacking.

By: sig

sig — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:49:26 +0000

Hugh,
reminds me of the “Karenina principle” lifted from Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”:
“Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”.
Success is dependent on all aspects working — failure needs only one aspect failing, any of the many…

By: olivier Blanchard

olivier Blanchard — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:31:43 +0000

That still doesn’t explain the fact that one guy takes home 5 times more sales commission than the other guy. Is one just working harder than the other? Working smarter? Is one better at kissing ass? Does one just have more charisma?
Getting promoted in the Fortune 500 world isn’t just about hard work, talent and smarts. If it were, Wall Street would be in much better shape today, and the Advertising world would be every bit as cool a place to work as it ought to be. I’m sure you’ve known your share of sub-par execs who were clearly promoted or elevated to their highest level of incompetence, and many of them go on to have long “successful” careers. Is there really a connection with complexity in those instances?

By: Ryan Sholin

Ryan Sholin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:45:10 +0000

A variation I’ve been using for some time now:
“Success tends to take longer than failure.”