Page 200 - The Power to Change Anything

Find Strength in Numbers 189

few hours. Lauren didn’t take a course or read a book; she merely
practiced giving a speech while receiving immediate feedback:
“Pick up the speed by 10 percent.” “Pause after the word ‘suc-
cessful.’” After four hours of guided instruction, Lauren learned
what might have taken months without feedback.
Since you’re on the wrong side of your eyeballs, you can’t
always see exactly what it is that you’re doing that works or
doesn’t work. So invest in still another form of social capital:
Seek real-time feedback from an expert.

Group Solidarity. In a parable by William Forster Lloyd pub-
lished in 1833, we first hear of a problem that is now known as
the “tragedy of the commons.” The parable describes how a
town allowed farmers to graze livestock at will on common
soil—soil often owned by nobility. This well-intentioned prac-
tice eventually led to a public disaster. The more successful a
farmer became, the more sheep he grazed, until eventually
there were so many sheep grazing on the land that “the com-
mon” was destroyed. What was good for the individual farmer
was bad for the collective whole.
You might have faced a similarly constructed scenario. For
instance, after plodding along for an hour in stop-and-go traf-
fic, you come across the cause of the hold-up. You discover that
a large box lies in one lane, causing the snarl. On the one hand
what’s good for you—zooming off immediately—is bad for
everyone who follows. On the other hand, if you were to sac-
rifice your own interest and step out of the car and remove the
box, everyone else would benefit.
Under these conditions, individuals have to learn how to
invest in one of the most powerful forms of social capital—soli-
darity. We must give ourselves up to the larger cause and act for
the good of everyone else, or the plan will fail. For instance, we
(the authors) were once charged with creating a leadership class
that taught newly appointed frontline supervisors how to hold
their direct reports accountable. To create the course, we looked
for positive deviance. We watched those who succeeded where