Right now, CREx Software is the underdog. We’re competing against an incumbent company-that-shall-not-be-named. Our competitor is better funded, has been around five years longer than us, and has name-brand recognition. While we actively pursue name-brand recognition, our goal is to fly under the radar for as long as we possibly can. Why, you ask? Because once we start becoming known as the best, our backs become etched with the painful, semi-permanent tattoo of a bright red target. When we become the best, we will have a target on our backs and have to work even harder to win.
Let me give you an example from my past.
Texas Academic State Championships
It was freshman year of high school. Like any proper nerd, I competed in academics. And not just any old academic competition: UIL, the big leagues for Texas public schools. Every class of school across the state vied for district, regional, and state championships. My high school was a legend in the Literary Criticism competition.
It all started when my high school English teacher, a former National Merit Scholar, returned to Martin’s Mill ISD to teach. She was the first Martin’s Mill student to win the state Literary Criticism (fondly called “Lit Crit”) competition. When she returned to teach English, she used her own methodical approach to theory and memorization to coach our Lit Crit team.
Making the team was a huge deal. Freshman didn’t often make the cut, and when I was selected to join the team as an alternate during my freshman year, I was ecstatic. We had an incredibly intelligent group. So intelligent, that we won the state competition not only for our small school sized group but across all schools in the entire state of Texas. This is from a tiny, East Texas public school with an average class size of 35 students! We beat the Westlakes and Pearlands and Highland Parks (all top public schools in the state). Insane.
The next year, we returned to the state competition with 3 out of the 4 same team members. Everyone already knew we were the team to beat, and yet, we made sure they were all reminded of it. We actually debated having T-shirts made with our motto, “It’s not hubris. We’re just that good.” And you know what happened? We got second. For the first time in years and years, the Martin’s Mill Lit Crit team didn’t win.
I had amazing coaches (both academic and in sports), good talent, and a hard-working spirit. Learn how I tuned out the second commenter, a Negative Nancy, here.
It's Easy to Revel in Success. It’s Harder to Maintain It.
What I learned from that experience is this: no matter how good you may think you are, there are so many other smart, innovative people out there trying to find a way to be better than you. Yes, we should all be intrinsically motivated and aim to beat our best. But that doesn’t work for everyone. For those people, you need to know that YOUR best will not always be THE best. Someone, someday, somewhere will come along and unseat you. It may happen after your career is long over, but it will happen. With that knowledge of the target on our backs, we must work harder every day, every minute.
It is hubris. No one is that good.
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