I can’t confirm (via google) who said that 90% of success is just showing up or hard work or sweat. Depending on what link you follow, it was Thomas Edison Woody Allen, or Einstein. What I propose is that in fact 90% of success is attitude, because without the attitude to be part of something…you wouldn’t show up.
Is this the secret to the Icelander’s happiness? Perhaps. You can gleam many things from the article in the Guardian on Sunday, but you can’t deny that whatever they are doing is working. AND importantly, it appears to be working in an equitable way where the aspirations of the individual are encouraged while the support of the state is valued.
Is there a lesson in there for social enterprise to grab a foothold in the UK psyche and importantly the pocketbook? By giving itself an attitude makeover. Having more fun, being more focused. Could positive attitudes and self determination and reliance drowned out the droning for more fairness in tendering, the endless conversions of marginal charities to enterprises, the incessant and paralyzingly aversion to risk?
There are a lot of people more clever than I that will suggest this is ridiculous; it takes carefully crafted policy and the perfect infrastructure to support cataclysmic change. But, I think if you looked closely at why things worked in an economy, a culture, or a society, you would find at the core a belief or attitude driving them to succeed in reaching their goals.
The Icelandic mantras that keep their country focused on improvement for themselves and society:
1. Realize that nearly anything is possible. (even without grants!)
2. Start small, but think like a bigshot!
3. Determine that going somewhere, anywhere, is better than standing in the same place for years.
4 Find out what works from other sectors, borrow meaningful best practice and apply it (don’t change it unnecessarily to fit your paradigm)
5. Realise that failure is ok. Take calculated risks. But, learn from them.
6. Surround yourself with others who value trying more than status quo.
7. Demand the highest level of quality and service.
8. Deliver the highest level of quality and service.
This is a difficult list to implement, to be sure. But, it’s alot easier if your starting premise is optimistic, self reliance, and determination.
We are putting these support systems/structures in regeneration areas, and we are trying to follow these mantras. Will they inspire, attract, help other social enterprises? Will we make a difference in local peoples’ lives? Will the economy be kickstarted? Will people be able to cross socio-economic boundaries?
I am not sure.
What am I sure of?
I am sure we have the right attitude (positive). I am sure that our attitude will open doors, connect people, and create opportunities.
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