Interviewing one of Canada’s most successful businessmen recently, I was fascinated by his insight into prioritization and commitment.
Jim Hjartarson is the CEO of OneChip Photonics, an Ottawa firm poised to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of FTTH components (Fibre to the Home). Hjartarson is a 30-year veteran of the telecommunications industry. He was a co-founder and CEO of Catena Networks; co-founder and VP of the Telecommunications Design Centre at Cadence Design Systems and, before then, he served as Director of Access Peripheral Design at Nortel Networks.
Hjartarson feels strongly that negative attitudes and too much playing ‘devil’s advocate’ can grind progress to a halt: “People tend to get the results they focus on,” he said. “In an environment in which people spend a large part of their time preparing to defend their work against challenge or argument, that energy is not going into the primary project.
“In fact,” he noted, “I believe that when a company pours a large amount of energy into developing a ‘Plan B’ in case ‘Plan A’ fails, they are almost guaranteeing the failure of Plan A by this very process. You need to know what you want, and commit to putting your energies there.”
Hjartarson’s observation is basically a 21st century update of the story of explorer Hernando Cortes: legend has it that after landing on the Yucatan Peninsula in 1519, Cortes overheard some of his men worrying that they were doomed to be defeated in battle. The men were making a plan to get back to their ships and sail away before such a defeat could occur.
In response, Cortes had all the ships in the harbour set on fire and burned to destruction.
“Now,” he told his men, “fight, or die. If we sail back to Spain, we will sail in their ships.”
Napoleon Hill wrote, “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut off all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win, essential to success.”
Dale Carnegie, of course, phrases it in plainer language (because, he’s Dale). He quotes Abraham Lincoln: “If I were to try to read, much less to answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, then what is said against me won’t matter. If the end brings me out wrong, then ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”
As Jim Hjartarson notes, focusing too much energy on developing a ‘Plan B’ in case ‘Plan A’ fails almost guarantees the failure of Plan A. You need to know what you want, and commit to putting your energies there.
“Do the very best you can,” Dale Carnegie advised simply. “Then put up your old umbrella, and keep the rain of criticism from running down the back of your neck.”
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