Why do some people fail? 12

[amorrison]

Why do intelligent people fail? (from Sternberg, 1986)

1. Lack of Motivation: A talent is irrelevant if a person is not motivated to use it. Motivation may be external (for example, social approval) or internal (satisfaction from a job well done). External sources tend to be transient, while internal sources tend to produce more consistent performance.

2. Lack of Impulse Control: Habitual impulsiveness gets in the way of optimal performance. Some people do not bring their full intellectual resources to bear on a problem, but go with the first solution that pops into their heads.

3. Lack of perseverance and too much perseveration: Some people give up to easily, while others are unable to stop even when the quest will be fruitless.

4. Using the wrong abilities: People may not be using the right abilities for the tasks in which they are engaged.

5. Inability to translate thought into action: Some people seem buried in thought. They have good ideas but rarely seem able to do anything about them.

6. Lack of product orientation: some people seem more concerned about the process rather than the result of the activity

7. Inability to complete tasks: For some people nothing ever draws to a close. Perhaps it's a fear of what they would do next or fear of becoming hopelessly enmeshed in detail.

8. Failure to initiate: Still others are unwilling or unable to initiate a project. It may be indecision or fear of commitment.

9. Fear of Failure: People may not reach their intellectual performance because they avoid the really important challenges in life.

10. Procrastination. Some people are unable to act without pressure. They may also look for little things to do in order to put off the big ones.

11. Misattribution of blame. Some people always blame themselves for even the slightest mishap. Some always blame others

12. Excessive self pity: Some people spend more time feeling sorry for themselves than expending the effort necessary to overcome the problem

13. Excessive dependency: Some people expect others to do for them what they ought to be doing for themselves

14. Wallowing in personal difficulties. Some people let their personal difficulties interfere grossly with their work. During the course of life, one can expect some real joys and some real sorrows. Maintaining a proper perspective is difficult

15. Distractibility and lack of concentration: Even some intelligent people have very short attention spans

16. Spreading oneself too thin or too thick. Undertaking too many activities may result in none being completed on time. Undertaking too few can also result in missed opportunities and reduced levels of accomplishment

17. Inability to delay gratification: Some people reward themselves and are rewarded by others for finishing small tasks, while avoiding bigger tasks that would earn them larger rewards

18. Inability to see the forest through the trees: some people become obsessed with details and are either unwilling or unable to see or deal with the larger picture in the projects they undertake.

19. Lack of balance between critical analytic thinking and creative synthetic thinking. It is important for people to learn what kind of thinking is expected of them in each situation

20. Too little or too much self-confidence. Lack of self confidence can gnaw away at a persons; ability to get things done and may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conversely, individuals with too much self-confidence may not know when to admit they are wrong or in need of self improvement.

 

[CRG]

Gee, I thought it boiled down to:

Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.

 

[TheTick]

Saves me the trouble of putting my resume on the web.

 

[automatic2]

You've missed the two that would top my list;

- success is unattainable, being created in an unrealistic environmnet.
- one's personal journey is altered, either through desire or response, creating an image of success in a different plane or dimension. External observers may view this as abandoment.

The success/failure mentality as viewed of ourselves, is a different thought process than when measuring another.

 

[PSE]

So as one of Murphy's Laws indicates:

"Only a mediocre person is always at their best."

 

[Comcokid]

I would assume that this listing (attributed to Sternberg, 1986) is more of "Why do intelligent people fail in a perfect environment".

The environment in which a person works is probably more important than the individual attributes of the typical person. Organizations always seem to focus on the failures of the person and not on the shortcomings or failures of the work environment. I would point to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for information related to work environment limitations.

 

[CRACKKILZ]

My experiences in the corporate world have taught me that the root cause of an individual's "perceived" failure can often be attributed to poor or ineffectual leadership within the organization.

Extracted from SUN TZU - THE ART OF WAR

"When the general is weak and without authority;
when his orders are not clear and distinct; when there
are no fixes duties assigned to officers and men,
and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner,
the result is utter disorganization."

Alex

 

[buzzp]

Good quote CrackKiller. I would buy into that one for sure.

 

[HVAC68]

A couple of points from me.

1. Unable to differentiate between urgent tasks and important tasks. Every important task may not be urgent. One should be able to distinguish the difference between the two.

2. Inability to say "NO" when you want to say so.

HVAC68

 

[MikeHalloran]

Sometimes you just bet on the wrong horse...



Mike Halloran
NOT speaking for
DeAngelo Marine Exhaust Inc.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA

 

[CRG]

Failure runs rich with those that focus on their failures and not their success. There is way too much thinking about failure here. With few exceptions, when you fail look into a mirror if you want to see the cause. Guys, you should be looking for success and how to emulate the behavior that achieves it.

 

[Ron]

MikeHalloran.....WELL SAID!!