Hubris is Boring

HOW GREAT THOU ART

The most valuable advice I received as a young entrepreneur was how to avoid giving in to hubris. Hubris is defined as "excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance-- used particularly to mean the kind of excessive pride or conceit that often brings about someone's downfall".

Top performers and successful business people can fall victim to hubris by letting their accomplishments go straight to their head. The challenge of hubris is that it often shows up in overdose strength, instantly spreading delusions of grandeur. Hubris causes a learning disability among emerging stars. They get accustomed to the devices that worked last time and start trusting the infallibility of their ability to sell anything, anywhere, to anyone. They master the art of manipulation, misinterpretation, chicanery, and learn nothing of values, morals, or responsibility. Greek tragedies focus on how hubris blinds people, with Oedipus Rex being the classic example of someone who refuses to take hints that he himself is the cause of his kingdom's misery.