Put biologically: tenacity is permissive for success.
More pertinently, has anyone ever been both a failure and labeled as tenacious? Tenacity seems like one of those words that we use to describe successful people, making the linkage almost embedded within the word and, therefore, uninteresting.
Don't tenacious failures exist in professional sports?
In boxing, there are fighters who never achieve "greatness", or see much success, but are regarded as having heart. What could be more tenacious than knowing you're outmatched and still getting up to press the fight? The 09' Celtics might also be an example.
So, yes, I'd say there are people/organizations who are failures and labeled tenacious.
That's a good point. I think it highlights that we judge people by the number of successes, not the ratio of successes. Even tenacious people who are not very good tend to keep going long enough to have a few successes under their belt. I'm thinking specifically of a difficult person that I worked with who was terrible at their job but went on to get a company launched and a book published. They weren't the greatest in either case, but it's a good example of how tenacity changes the game. There's a big difference between being described as a Failed X vs. Published Author.
Right. Is there any way to turn it into an interesting discussion? For example, is tenacity something that can be learned?
Here's an interesting obvservation I've had about tenacity. My company has inspired a small niche in the conference industry. There is one other company that launched at the same time as us and six more that are copycats. One thing I've noticed is that the copycats are full of bluster but light on tenacity. I think having the original idea gives you extra backbone because you are tied to the change you want to see in the world. Copycats just see a business opportunity and start to doubt themselves when they hit rough patches.
I believe that tenacity leads to luck, simply through more tries:
Chance II springs from your energetic, generalized motor activities... the freer they are, the better.
[Chance II] involves the kind of luck [Charles] Kettering... had in mind when he said, "Keep on going and chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down."
[+] [-] carbocation|16 years ago|reply
More pertinently, has anyone ever been both a failure and labeled as tenacious? Tenacity seems like one of those words that we use to describe successful people, making the linkage almost embedded within the word and, therefore, uninteresting.
[+] [-] migpwr|16 years ago|reply
In boxing, there are fighters who never achieve "greatness", or see much success, but are regarded as having heart. What could be more tenacious than knowing you're outmatched and still getting up to press the fight? The 09' Celtics might also be an example.
So, yes, I'd say there are people/organizations who are failures and labeled tenacious.
[+] [-] tonystubblebine|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] epi0Bauqu|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jsomers|16 years ago|reply
In my view this submission is vapid to the point of being flag-worthy. Evidence: after two hours this piece has generated zero actual discussion.
[+] [-] tonystubblebine|16 years ago|reply
Here's an interesting obvservation I've had about tenacity. My company has inspired a small niche in the conference industry. There is one other company that launched at the same time as us and six more that are copycats. One thing I've noticed is that the copycats are full of bluster but light on tenacity. I think having the original idea gives you extra backbone because you are tied to the change you want to see in the world. Copycats just see a business opportunity and start to doubt themselves when they hit rough patches.
[+] [-] jaspertheghost|16 years ago|reply
Chance II springs from your energetic, generalized motor activities... the freer they are, the better.
[Chance II] involves the kind of luck [Charles] Kettering... had in mind when he said, "Keep on going and chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down."
http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/luck-and-the-entrepreneu...
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] n-named|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrblowhart|16 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] grannyg00se|16 years ago|reply