Last night as I was reading my advanced review copy of Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnel and Jackie Huba over at Church of the Customer Blog, which by the way has been a joy to read thus far, and their explanation of the “1 Percent Club” and the 1% Rule made me think more about the notion of ‘clubs’. That is to say, the desire for people to be an expert, or the elite, and how that ties in with accomplishment.
I personally believe the majority of people in the world have the desire to be an expert or “elite” in regards to something- or more fundamentally, to accomplish something. I would also venture to say that those who are against “elitism” (not the singling out, so much as the concept of the elite) are those who are against experts, and further stated are those who are simply against what they are afraid they cannot become themselves- or cannot accomplish. And a fear it is, as they have fallen victim to their own perceptions, becoming shaped by them instead of shaping them.
What slows any one person to accomplishment is the perception of what they wish to accomplish balanced by their perception of how likely it is for them to obtain it. If the boundary of perceived accomplishment is lowered as to reduce the risk of failing – the underlying deterrent – then many more people would strive for that accomplishment irregardless of whether the amount of time required achieving it actually ever changed. That is to say, if the strength of the vision is strong enough and the perceived road to achieve that vision is created in such a way that the chance of success appears high, then more people would be striving and succeeding in accomplishments.
I would like to go further to say that I think a varyingly large part of this road lends itself to perception. A person who has heard “You can accomplish anything you put your mind to” all of their life will have a much smaller boundary to accomplishment than someone who has heard “Don’t try at what you know you can’t succeed in.” or even someone who has heard nothing at all on the subject. This is a shaping of perception, its effects most likely obvious as someone comes to mind during those phrases.
