Week 3 - Capstone

There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a vision for greatness.

But good-to-great companies continually refined the path to

greatness with the brutal facts of reality.

How to Confront the Brutal Facts

• Lead with Questions, Not Answers– Identify a few people who are not afraid to tell

you the truth.– Ask questions about your passion, talent, career

aspirations, and economic engine.– Honest feedback will help you understand the

“brutal facts”.

How to Confront the Brutal Facts

• Engage in Dialogue and Debate, not Coercion– Don’t go in to a conversation with the goal of

convincing others about your point of view.– Instead, listen to them and consider their

arguments and beliefs– Seek first to understand, then to be understood– Allow your mind to be changed

How to Confront the Brutal Facts

• Conduct Autopsies, Without Blame– Fail quickly, and cheaply, and freely share about

the experience so that others may learn from it– Understand why you’ve made mistakes in the

past, and learn from them– Don’t blame others for past mistakes

How to Confront the Brutal Facts

• Build “Red Flag” Mechanisms– Set up warnings and alarms to let you know when

you’re straying from your personal mission– Have others keep you accountable to your plans– Write down your goals and assess your progress

regularly

Never Waver in Your Faith

• Have confidence that you will succeed• Understand that you may face challenges, but

do not give up on your goals• If you need to reinvent yourself, it may be

another stepping stone to your dream

The Stockdale Paradox

“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.” – Admiral Jim Stockdale