The pitfalls of aspirational talk

Every morning when starting up my Bloomberg terminal, I am greeted by a quote of the day. Today it read: “Measure not the work until the day’s out and the labor done”, courtesy of a certain Elizabeth Barrett Browning (who isn’t familiar, I must admit). Duh. Truisms leave me cold, especially when they’re didactic. There have been other quotes though that were much more dramatic and powerful. On 26 November, for example, Ferdinand Foch informed me that: “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire”. A few days before that, Nikola Tesla stated defiantly that “I don’t care that they stole my idea. I care that they don’t have any of their own”. To which Walter Cronkite added wryly: “And that’s the way it is.” Amen.

The point of these quotes, of course, is to be aspirational. You get into work and the first thing you see is a line uttered by a great mind, the hope being that some of its wisdom rubs off on you. Well, think again. To be fair, there is aspirational writing that strikes a chord with me. But there isn’t much. One of the more invigorating pieces in that department is the Holstee manifesto, mostly because it’s clever, pragmatic and no frills. If you don’t know it yet, read it here, it’s great. What’s more, it actually worked out for its creators by spawning a successful business and a global community of loyal followers.

That should be the ultimate proof of concept, one would think. Unfortunately, it turns out that’s not quite the case. By definition, aspirational talk is empowering, conveys an optimistic vibe and therefore builds up expectations. Why is it then, that most people who have the Holstee manifesto attached to their monitor (at least the ones I know), still haven’t quit their job? Well, there’s the distinct possibility that they’re genuinely satisfied with what they do. Apart from that, I guess there are two possible explanations. Either the aspirational message is overwhelming despite its minimalistic pretense. Or the audience is content with the promise of change but too lazy or afraid to do something about it. So who’s to blame? Aspirational talk is an industry, and a profitable one at that. It’s in the business of making promises, creating pipe dreams, raising the bar – you can’t blame it for not delivering. It’s us, the receivers of the message, who need to deliver. The sneaky thing about pep talk is that is heightens our sense of entitlement rather than making us get things done.

We all know how it works with mistakes: you have to make them yourself to actually learn something. With advice, it’s very similar: you gotta take it before you can tell if it works.