Learn & Live the Stockdale Paradox to Thrive in Business
20. Jun, 2010 
3 Comments
By Greg Fullerton
James Stockdale was a highly-decorated naval officer who endured more than seven years of torture and imprisonment at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam war.
During that hellish period, he was routinely tortured and beaten. He was locked in leg irons in a bath stall. His shoulders were wrenched from their sockets, his leg was shattered, and his back was broken.
When his captors informed him that he would be paraded in public, he slit his own scalp with a razor so they couldn’t use him as propaganda. His captors then covered his head with a hat, and he promptly beat himself with a stool until his face was swollen beyond recognition.
He was kept in solitary confinement, his cell measuring 3 feet by 9 feet. A light bulb was kept on around the clock.
But through all this pain and agony, he had refused to capitulate.
In his business book, Good to Great, Jim Collins writes about a conversation he had with Stockdale regarding his coping strategy during imprisonment. Stockdale said:
“I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
Collins asked him who didn’t make it out of Vietnam, and he replied:
“Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”
Stockdale then added:
“This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Collins described this as the “Stockdale Paradox.”
It’s totally counter-intuitive, isn’t it? We’re taught so often to be optimistic. Of course, we know that negative attitudes don’t get us anywhere, but optimism?
This relates to business as well. Be very careful when you see people with just a positive attitude, because a lot of times they won’t make it.
James Stockdale taught us that the ones who make it are those that have a positive attitude, but they’re also realistic.
In other words, they would come into the Hanoi Hilton and say, “You know, I really believe I’m going to make it through this. I have my faith, I have my family, I have my fellow soldiers around me. I have my inner strength. But I also understand that it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be hard.”
Same thing in business. The people who make it through the tough times and end up thriving are those who are both positive and realistic. Their projections aren’t pie-in-the-sky. They have faith they they will eventually prevail, but they know it’s going to be hard.
When you come to Max, if you have a bad attitude, I don’t want to see you. If you have a positive attitude, be careful because there are going to be problems.
Out company isn’t perfect. We’re going to make mistakes. The economy may not cooperate with you. You’ll face rejection from people close to you.
But if you can be optimistic and realistic, then you’ll learn to survive, and eventually you’ll thrive.
Max Int’l has been my first MLM company. After months of involvement, the personal development side of Max is what keeps me pushing forward from good to great. I’m a different person today as a result of ny involvement with Max Int’l since Sept 08. Thank you!
Thank you Greg for these words of wisdom. Often I dream of what could be, and I know I can get there, but it is going to be hard work and us associates needs to be grounded and realistic. I used to get really dissapointed if I didn’t meet a certain goal or achieve a certain level a specific date, and my business would close shop while those wounds healed. Now I understand that I was being optimistic and not realistic. Like Mickey Burns says, look at your numbers. How can you expect to sign up five people this month if you have only talked to two. That is Reality. But being in a positive mind set, I know I can go out and talk to fifteen and get my five! Thanks MAX, see you at the TOP!
Being positive and realistic is right on the money so many are to much into the instant gratification. We need to make a plan that includes all areas of our life and work on this plan but realistic. You can’t do everything all in one day. Though Know what you want and what you can do today to get you closer also be honest not every day are we going to be able to move forward some time patience is required to catch a fish. So do the things you can do and God and your plan will take care of the rest.