Mindscape

Perseverance Under Pressure

2 min read

Perseverance Under Pressure

High achievement puts you in situations where you must make fast decisions with incomplete information, under time pressure, political pressure, and real consequences. You will make mistakes often. The decisive trait is not avoiding screwups; it is recovering fast enough that they do not stop you.

Core Principle

Perseverance is the ability to keep your behavior intact after failure has made you feel stupid.

If the work is important enough, mistakes are not evidence that you should stop. They are part of the operating environment. The useful skill is to absorb the embarrassment, repair what can be repaired, learn what can be learned, and continue.

The Andreessen Quote

If you’re going to be a high achiever, you’re going to be in lots of situations where you’re going to be quickly making decisions in the presence of incomplete or incorrect information, under intense time pressure, and often under intense political pressure. You’re going to screw up — frequently — and the screwups will have serious consequences, and you’ll feel incredibly stupid every time. It can’t faze you — you have to be able to just get right back up and keep on going.

That may be the most valuable skill you can ever learn. Make sure you start learning it early.

Source: Marc Andreessen, The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning, part 2: Skills and Education. Captured from an a16z post.

Practical Rule

When you screw up under pressure, separate the event from the identity hit:

  • What happened?
  • What consequence needs immediate repair?
  • What decision rule was wrong or missing?
  • What would I do differently next time?
  • What is the next useful action?

Do not let shame become a second mistake.

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