Love this expression.
Unfortunately, it's possible that Jobs' applied this too far to his health--some think he delayed surgery to remove his tumor by 9 months so he could try alternative therapies first, which allowed the tumor to spread. (Skimmable balanced summary here.) Though the reality distortion field helps us break barriers, it can't break them all.
But when it comes to innovating and pursuing dreams, a reality distortion field is a great idea.
I've seen it work even in silly things, like the loyalty card we used to sell at my old work. Time and again a new generation of cashiers would say "Everyone has a card, we can't get a higher percentage!" but my boss would *inspire* them to try harder, and the percentage went up.
This technique did stop working at some point, though. Eventually you really do saturate your market, and the reality distortion field eventually hits reality. But until then, what might we be capable of?
National Novel Writing Month--writing 50 000 words in 30 days--is another example of showing people how they can do more than they thought personally probable. If you pace yourself Nano asks you to write 1666 words per day; but I always get behind and write way more than that at the end, to get ahead. In theory we could all write 100 000 words in the month (and many of the early finishers do... yes, the crazy people.)
We can do more than we think IF we had a good reason, because achieving-the-impossible generally requires sacrifice. For example, in Nano it translates into = no dishes cleaned, no cooking, no childcare, unhappy spouses, and no life. I'll bet it did for Jobs' developers too.
But if your goal or dream is worthy, and the sacrifices can be made, then I say go for it. Reality distort away!
7 comments:
Well, I need some good reality distortion to get all my stuff done. Guess I'll give it a try.
And I'm giving Nano (yet another) try.
I love NaNo - The strange things I say and do because of lack of sleep keep me entertained all month long. ;)
Skye - I kept wondering if you wrote fiction. Fun! There's a Nano board in the Storywonk forum if you haven't heard / want companionship.
Judie - You are the Nano Queen. I bow before thee.
the reality distortion field is a common idea within the tech startup world - jobs was obviously great at it. here is one of steve blank's discussions of the reality distortion field: http://steveblank.com/2010/04/22/turning-on-your-reality-distortion-field/
Thanks!
The Reality Distortion Field term really was first used at Apple, apparently.
http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Reality_Distortion_Field.txt
(And despite what Bud Tribble may have said, he didn't get it from Star Trek either.)
http://io9.com/343624/a-brief-history-of-reality-distortion-fields-starring-steve-jobs
Other bios/accounts of early apple do paint Jobs as a tyrant and "difficult" boss to work for. Some people are challenged to go further by wheedling, sarcastic, critical "coaches" - but not everyone. In fact I'm convinced that other motivational factors work much better, especially in the long run.
I noticed in a show about the National Football League's drafting of new players, the recruiters are very much aware of their own coach's style and try to sign new players who can function in that environment. That's a wise approach to building a successful team.
Yes, just because you're a genius doesn't mean you understand people. (Probably the opposite?)
Interesting about the recruiters.
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