No One is Out to Get You
Systems and incentives run the world, but they need to be navigated carefully.
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
Viktor Frankl
With corruption, money, and massive institutions all around us all the time, it’s easy to feel like we’re set up for failure. It can feel like the deck is stacked against us and the system is actively working against us.
Unfortunately, for many of us, this is the case. The deck is stacked against us, and we have to work twice as hard as someone else to get the same opportunity.
However, just because we’re fighting an uphill battle doesn’t mean everyone is actively working against us.
There are no evil overlords pulling the strings behind the scenes to make our lives harder than they need to be.
Incentives determine behavior
The reality is that the world is filled with people doing what they think is best. Some people have bad intentions, but there are way more people with good intentions.
All of us, whether we know it or not, are trapped in systems and led by incentives. There are a lot of well-intentioned politicians and CEOs, and there are a few who are completely evil. Regardless of their intentions, they are motivated by incentives, and their actions are limited by the systems they work within.
When things go wrong or negatively impact others, it’s not a coordinated plot to hurt millions of people but rather a bad outcome created accidentally by many well-intentioned people working in a flawed system.
The world is not out to get us. Most people want what’s best for everyone, but systems and incentives don’t always allow for the greatest good for the greatest number.
In most cases where we feel hurt or attacked by the actions of others, if we were dropped into their shoes, we would make the exact same decisions.
Change comes from results
When confronted with the reality of how the world works, we’re faced with a choice.
We can decide that everything is working against us and give up because it’s not worth fighting against a broken system. Or we can choose to acknowledge the systems, incentives, and imbalances holding us back and commit to progressing our lives forward despite these challenges.
Life will never be fair for all of us, and rarely, if ever, will the stars align for us to make something worthwhile easy.
If it’s worthwhile, it will always be difficult. There will always be things that actively hold us back and prevent us from accomplishing what we’ve set out to do.
If we give in to the forces holding us back, they win and become stronger, and we’ll never get what we want.
If we fight to overcome the forces holding us back, we can make meaningful progress towards worthwhile pursuits and chip away at the systems holding us back to make it easier for the people who come after us.
The path to getting what we want is not to give up or fight against the way of the world. The path to getting what we want and making the world a better place is focusing on what we can control to accomplish something worthwhile and change the way the world works for the better.
Prompts
What forces are holding you back from pursuing what’s most important to you?
How can you fight through these forces instead of succumbing to them or wasting your energy fighting against them?
How will the results you create inspire others and change the systems for the better?
Deep Dive
The Systems Bible by John Gall
The guide to systems and how they create certain (often unexpected) outcomes.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin