The number one reason most people don’t do interesting things is that they are afraid of rejection. They don’t ask that special someone on a date, they don’t start a business, they don’t even apply for a job, or they don’t even ask for a discount.
People are too afraid of rejection.
One of the reasons online dating is so popular is that it makes rejection a lot easier. There, no one knows when you have been rejected. It makes it much easier for people to handle failure. Romantic rejection can be very bitter.
In the workplace, rejection takes another tone. Many people are worried about proposing out-of-the-box ideas for fear that they might get rejected. But unconventional ideas are just the things that need to be reviewed at companies. If your ideas are not being rejected at least 50% of the time, you are playing it way too safe (or too political). A good rate of rejection within a company is 50-80%.
I would guess that people who take rejection well make much better employees. They can take the appropriate level of risk and still feel good about themselves. When interviewing, test this trait.
One question I was asked recently: How can you teach people to better handle rejection? I don’t have a good answer to that and would appreciate your comments.
http://blog.summation.net/
Eleven recent tweets from @Auren
The value of an email attachment is inversely proportional to its size.
Why isn’t there a science journal for failed experiments? There’s just as much to be learned from failure
According to WSJ, rich parents don’t matter for child development:
Hamsters exposed to jet-lag produce 50% fewer brain neurons. What does that mean for us?
Good conversationalists talk more a about ideas than about people
The number one reason people fail as entrepreneurs is that they never even try
is anything more contagious than happiness?
If you are under-40 today and if you are healthy and relatively wealthy, there is a good chance of living past 140
reduce corp bureaucracy. don’t track vacation: http://bit.ly/novaca
Every business school should teach a class called "Built to Fail"
The definition of junk: Junk is something you throw out two weeks before you need it.
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Books to read:
- Scorpions by Noah Feldman – great book on the FDR Supreme Court appointees.
- Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo – interesting book on how normal people can do evil things.
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