Beyond the Dream

Americans are encouraged to dream, secure in the knowledge that with hard work and ingenuity, dreams can come true. 

What to do when they don't? 

Camille Sweeney and Josh Gosfield, in their article "Secret Ingredient for Success," successfully argue that a dream paired with hard work is not always enough. One may have to go back to the beginning and realize that the dream has to be modified. 

We are powered by basics; our higher thinking and behavior relies on those fundamentals in order to function. Major change in my life has come about when I realize that a tenet of thought was actually flawed, and by removing it I can now progress further. 

In simple terms, let us say someone believes that true fashion ended in the 80s. One would walk about with high padded shoulders, leg warmers, and parachute pants, refusing to acknowledge that there are other options out there to really look one's best. 

During the 1970s, Chris Argyris, a business theorist at Harvard Business School (and now, at 89, a professor emeritus) began to research what happens to organizations and people . . . when they find obstacles in their paths.

Professor Argyris called the most common response single loop learning — an insular mental process in which we consider possible external or technical reasons for obstacles.

For those who meet true success, it was after tearing up their misconceptions and starting from scratch, as it was in the case of David Chang, a chef who wanted to open a simple noodle bar, which he finally did, but it was devoid of customers. He realized that a simple noodle bar would never take off, and leaving the simple noodle bar dream behind as he applied creativity and diversity to his menu. 

He has since shot off into fame and fortune. 

In interviews we did with high achievers for a book, we expected to hear that talent, persistence, dedication and luck played crucial roles in their success. Surprisingly, however, self-awareness played an equally strong role. 

The successful people we spoke with — in business, entertainment, sports and the arts — all had similar responses when faced with obstacles: they subjected themselves to fairly merciless self-examination that prompted reinvention of their goals and the methods by which they endeavored to achieve them. 

Nothing is wrong with having a dream and a plan. But who is to say that that dream can't undergo a little remodeling in order to truly happen?