Evolve or Die

by Thomas C Triumph

  Fancy equipment isn’t necessary.

  There are a lot of things that might be “nice” to have to help get the work done. But I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a project that had anywhere near everything we’d have liked. Use what you have, and move forward as best you can.

  Let me share a quick story … I was supporting a friend, Marshall Ulrich,15 during what is considered to be the ultimate endurance run. Badwater is a 135-mile run (nonstop) through Death Valley during the hottest week of the year in July (typically 128 degrees F). He’s a world-class runner and athlete, and his accomplishments are too long to begin mentioning here, but let me say, “He’s the real deal.”

  The night before the 135-mile run, we went out to the car to get his running shoes. Keep in mind, he’s professionally sponsored. So, I figured we’d see a sizable inventory of new, state-of-the-art running shoes. Ulrich opens the trunk, and I see some climbing gear next to a spare tire. I ask, “Is this the climbing axe you used on Everest?”

  “Yea,” he said, “that went to the top of the world with me” (side note, he’d also summited Mount Everest). Anyway, back to looking for the shoes. He’s scrounging around with a flashlight and digs out a pair of running shoes so absolutely worn, dirty, and utterly dilapidated that I swear there was no pattern on the soles. You might wear them if you were painting a fence or roto-tilling the garden. He gave them a look and said, “These will do.”

  The lesson is—you don’t need a perfect circumstance or perfect equipment to get started. Don’t wait for the stars to align and for everything to be in place. Make a plan and get moving.

  Prepare by doing the work.

  You can’t just show up and expect to create a world-changing product any more than you can show up and run for hours. But, with preparation and experience, anyone can do it. Really. As in sports and life, many people aren’t willing to put in the time to become truly proficient in their craft. Do the work to prepare.

  Plan ahead.

  You know the importance of a plan. You also know that the plan will likely change (the real world has a way of doing that). Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” I’m sure he knew what he was talking about—he’s on the $100 bill.

  Attitude matters.

  Every worthwhile endeavor usually has a low point. In 100-mile ultramarathons, nights are usually the worst, as you’ve been running since six a.m. and sometimes you’re just one negative thought away from throwing in the towel. Except that you’re on a trail deep in the woods, and there’s nobody to see you throw the towel.

  On a few occasions while running ultramarathons, I’ve come across a body splayed out alongside the trail in the middle of the night. Here’s what typically happens. First, you slow to a fast walk, so as not to step on any body parts. Then there’s a five-second conversation that goes like this. I ask, “You ok?” The person on the ground responds, “Oh, yea. I’m good. I feel like I’ve been hit by a meteor, but I’ll be moving again soon.” Another saying among ultrarunners is “90 percent of the run is mental, and the rest is all in your head.”

  And that person lying in the dark? Surprisingly, you’ll see him or her again with a finisher medal in hand. It’s important to remember that sometimes a good attitude is all that keeps you in the game. Read the bios of innumerable disruptive luminaries, including Elon Musk, and you’ll find it’s a common occurrence. At one point they were struggling and saying, “I’ll be moving again soon.”

  Expect the unexpected.

  Anticipate the problems along the way. Marketing specialist Guy Kawasaki in The Art of the Start 2.0 suggests getting your business team together and having everyone list what possibly could go wrong that could derail your venture. Then go about making plans to eliminate those potential problems.

  Be wary of small problems.

  We used to have a saying at one of the information technology professional services companies where I worked. “Panic early, panic often.” It was a joke, but not really. The reality is that if you’re aware of something that seems like it might be going sideways … address it immediately (or nearly so). Doesn’t matter if it’s a project falling behind, or chafing in a sensitive area. If you’re aware of an issue, take care of it.

  Manage your resources and progress.

  Running teaches you to be aware of your energy levels and your pace. The race director of the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run proffers some wisdom to all the runners the night before the run. “Drink before you’re thirsty. Eat before you’re hungry. Walk before you’re tired.” The same is true with your work and your life. Develop an awareness for how you’re feeling. Slow down when you need to. Speed up when you can.

  Be friendly and encouraging along the way.

  It doesn’t matter if you’re working on a rocket to Mars, developing a new software as a service (SaaS) offering or creating an animation classic; most everybody on the team is trying to make a go of it and succeed. It’s all too easy to let the fatigue of the day drag you down. Resist. This doesn’t mean you need to be an effervescent fountain of unjustified enthusiasm. But it does mean that part of your job is to always be professional and encouraging.

  Manage what you can. Ignore the rest.

  We know this. Don’t spend time and energy worrying about things you can’t control.

  Work with a team.

  Markets are conquered, mountains are climbed, and championships are won by people collaborating together as a team. Even something as seemingly solo as running an ultramarathon depends on the support of others in the way of offering encouragement, aid station volunteers, a helpful crew, and someone to drive you home after the finish.

  After finishing Badwater, the 135-mile run through Death Valley in July, David Goggins16 a Navy SEAL, turned around and went back on the course to provide companionship and support to a straggling runner. That added at least another 30 miles to his effort. Even a solo endeavor like an ultramarathon presents an opportunity for truly unforgettable teamwork.

  If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

  Whether you’re trying to move the needle on a project or you’re trying to get out the door and moving, there will always be problems or challenges. That’s why it’s called work. Author Steven Pressfield calls this “Resistance.”

  It’s harder than it looks.

  Whether it’s moving a business from A to B, raising a child, or running a marathon … No matter how much you talk to your friends who’ve done it or read books about it, it’s actually harder that you expect. But here’s the other truth, it’s also more fun than you’d ever expect. And you’ll learn more than you ever expected.

  You can get through the worst of times.

  At some point during the distance, you will likely have serious problems of one kind or another. You’ll feel like the wheels are coming off, like you’re beaten and finished. The important lesson is if you make adjustments and corrections, you will begin to feel better and get back on solid ground. It’s worth remembering when things get really tough. Tough times don’t last.

  Don’t quit, unless you have no choice.

  While lecturing on the topic of ultrarunning, Ulrich was asked by a runner training for his first 100-mile run, “When would you quit? Like if you have blisters?” Marshall paused to think for a few seconds and then softly explained, “No, it would be like if you had a compound fracture.” Ulrich once ran 200 miles with ice packs on his legs. Does that mean that Ulrich has never quit? Of course not, he’s dropped out of races on rare occasion, and none of them involved a compound fracture. But it did involve him losing his positive attitude (reread number 5).

  We’re each an experiment of one.

  The great Dr. George Sheehan, a cardiologist, a runner, and the author of eight books, said, “We are each an experiment of one.” What he meant is nobody can tell you exactly what’s best for you. Or how to run your race or live your life.

  The journey is the reward.

  S
ome miles will be glorious and some will be hell. But when you cross the finish line, your time really won’t matter. The medal or industry awards won’t matter. What will matter is the time spent moving forward. Living your life. Keep your head up, and look at the sights along the way. Encourage others. Smile as often as you can.

  So, what happened to me after running 75 miles and sitting in the chair—broken, crying, and head covered with a towel? I sat for a minute, took every ounce of energy I could from that hand on my shoulder, slowly stood up, and told my family I loved them. And headed back into the dark, chasing the next 25.

  Think Like an Immigrant

  Here’s a story with an ending I could have never seen coming. But I’ll get to that once you hear the story.

  It was 1915, and Diane Sabia was a young, 12-year-old girl when she left her home in Balvano, Italy, and crossed the Atlantic by ship to reach the United States. Diane carried her belongings in a cooking pot. She and her siblings were traveling with their mother, Antoinette Sabia, to reunite with their father who was waiting for them in America. Their father, Carmen Sabia, had gone ahead to work in America and establish some semblance of stability before his family followed from Italy.

  As is typical of most dreams, establishing the footing in America had taken Carmen longer than anticipated. He had worked diligently since his arrival in the United States; yet it had been eight years since Carmen had seen his wife or his children.

  As the ship approached the New York shore and Ellis Island came into sight, young Diane asked her mother, “How will you recognize papa after all the years?” Her mom smiled and said assuredly, “Don’t worry, Diane, we’ll recognize each other.”

  Reunited in the new land, they settled in Chicago, where Carmen continued working as a laborer in the railroad subway tunnels. The journey had taken several years, but finally they were all together in their new home—the United States.

  There’s a hunger to survive and thrive that is associated with immigrants. It’s what allows them to arrive in a new land—often with next to nothing except their work ethic and a drive to create a better future. Pushing aside the fears of the unknown, they leave their native lands with heart-wrenching goodbyes to family and friends and head out into foreign territory. Many immigrants arrive with a minimal amount of currency. Many don’t speak English. But they’re brimming with optimism, hope for the future, and a profound drive to build. Their future and lives are at stake.

  “Every aspect of the American economy has profited

  from the contributions of immigrants.”

  —John F. Kennedy

  The success of immigrants is not anecdotal. Since the 1860s, immigrants to the United States have accounted for approximately 13 percent of the population. Yet, amazingly—40 percent of the Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants or children of immigrants. When you’re truly committed, few things can stand in the way of inexorable progress.

  We can learn a lot from studying immigrants. They typically begin with little. Essentially no connections, zero financial resources, limited education, poor language skills, and significant cultural differences. Additionally, they often face prejudices and biases, which create an environment of further difficulty.

  Yet, successful immigrants more than make up for these ostensible disadvantages with an abundance of tenacity and commitment to making forward progress. Immigrants bring an attitude of possibility, the belief that they can create something from nothing, and the burning desire to create a better life. And they often do.

  Perhaps that’s why in a New York Times article, titled “The Immigrant Advantage,” the first line of the article began with the sentence, “If you want to die a successful American, especially in the heartland, it helps to be born abroad.”17

  Here are just some of the more than 200 Fortune 500 top American companies founded by immigrants or their children—Kraft, Ford, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Mattel, Google, McDonald’s, Heinz, Home Depot, Hertz, Estée Lauder, UPS, Boeing, and Disney. A report, titled “The ‘New American’ Fortune 500” by the Partnership for a New American Economy, described these companies as “synonymous with America’s leading role in the global marketplace.”18

  “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism … The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be

  to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.”

  —Theodore Roosevelt

  You would do well to think like an immigrant. The list of successful immigrants in the United States is basically limitless, but here are nine.

  Sergey Brin, Cofounder of Google

  Born in 1973, Brin immigrated with his parents to the United States from Russia when he was just six years old. While working on his doctorate at Stanford, he and his friend, Larry Page, built a Web search engine before starting Google in a garage. His net worth in 2018 is approximately $52 billion. “Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the world.”

  Do Won Chang, Cofounder and CEO of Forever 21

  Do moved to the United States from Korea in 1984 and worked as a gas station attendant, a janitor, and also worked at a coffee shop. Three years later, he and his wife opened a clothing store. In 2018, Forever 21 does about $4 billion in annual sales, and the couple owns 100 percent.

  Jerry Yang, Cofounder of Yahoo!

  At the age of ten, Yang immigrated from Taiwan with his mom and brother. Jerry knew just one English word—“shoe.” He started Yahoo! in 1994. In 2018, he’s an investor and advisor to several corporations, and is worth $2.7 billion.

  Pierre Omidyar, Founder of eBay

  Omidyar is the son of Iranian immigrants, who were living in Paris when he was born. Shortly thereafter, they moved to the United States. Omidyar created a website called Auction Web that supported auctions. The service continued to evolve, eventually he renamed the company eBay and the rest is history. “Pursue your passion. If you’re passionate about something

  and you work hard, you will be successful.”

  George Soros, Founder and Chairman of Soros Fund Management

  Soros was born in Hungary and had a difficult childhood, including a period where he lived in hiding to avoid the Nazi Germans occupying the country. He immigrated to England where he attended the London School of Economics and paid his way by working on the railroad and in local cafés. He immigrated to the US in 1956, and went on to become a wealthy businessman and philanthropist. “Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition,

  there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.”

  Andy Grove, Former Chairman and Former CEO of Intel Corporation

  Grove was born in Hungary, almost died from scarlet fever, and survived a Nazi occupation by taking on a false identity along with his mother, while his father was taken to a labor camp. They reunited after the war. Grove later escaped Hungary during the revolution in 1956 for Austria, and eventually made his way to the US the following year, where he was employed as a busboy. Grove graduated with a doctoral degree from UC Berkeley in 1963, and his career in technology led to his becoming the CEO of Intel. He wrote an excellent book, High Output Management, which I highly recommend. “Success breeds complacency. Complacency

  breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.”

  Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo

  Indra was born in India and earned a master’s degree there before coming to the US in 1978, where she earned a second master’s degree at Yale. After a stint doing strategy consulting, she joined PepsiCo in 1994, where she became CFO in 2001 and CEO in 2006. Since 2001, she has helped guide net profit from $2.7 billion to $6.5 billion, and has been recognized by Time, Forbes, and Fortune magazines. “My mother’s greatest gift was making me and my sister believe at a young age th
at we could achieve anything.

  While we were growing up in southern India, Mom always made certain we set our sights high and worked tirelessly to achieve our dreams.”

  Andrew Ly, Cofounder and CEO of Sugar Bowl Bakery

  Ly along with his family escaped Vietnam after the US departed the country. In 1978, they took a small boat, survived a harrowing eight-day-and-night journey at sea, which included being boarded by pirates who took everything but the clothes they were wearing. They began learning English when they arrived, worked hard, saved money, and bought a small coffee shop where they learned how to make doughnuts and muffins. In 2018, the bakery does over $1.8 million in annual sales. “When I came here, I didn’t speak the language or have any money. I am proud that I’ve taken my family where they hesitated to go years ago. Whenever I mentor young people, I tell them, never give up. Work hard, have a good heart, and be disciplined. Those are the ingredients to success.”

  José Wilfredo Flores, Founder and President of W Concrete

  Flores came from El Salvador to escape the civil war when he was just 14. He made his way to Washington, DC, to live with his uncle and older brother. While he attended middle school, he worked part-time cleaning offices. At 15, he quit school, lied about his age using a fake ID and social security, and began working in construction. By age 25, he was supervising a crew of up to 50 people and was making $60,000. He eventually started W Concrete, which does several million dollars a year in sales. “In my country, there’s no opportunity for poor people.

  The rich get richer and richer. The poor will always be poor and poor. Here, do it right and nobody can stop you.”

  And by the way, here’s the part that I could have never seen coming about that 12-year-old, Italian, immigrant girl who carried her belongings in a cooking pot through Ellis Island on her way to meet her father, Carmen Sabia, whom she hadn’t seen for eight years.