Do you remember the story of Daedalus and Icarus from Greek mythology? I have always loved this story. Apparently, Daedalus built the famous Labyrinth (the subject of another fascinating story involving the Minotaur) for King Minos on the island of Crete. Apparently, it was Daedalus who suggested to Princess Ariadne to give the hero Theseus the ball of twine that he used to to escape from the Labyrinth after he slayed the Minotaur. King Minos was furious and imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tower. Daedalus designed two sets of wings (one for him and one for his son) made out of branches, feathers, and wax. After learning to fly while using the wings, Daedalus taught Icarus to fly too, cautioning him never to fly too close to the water (the wings would get wet and not work) or too close to the sun (the wax in the wings would melt). Both Daedalus and Icarus flew out of the tower and escaped. However, Icarus soon became overconfident and flew higher and higher towards the sun. Eventually, just as Daedalus had predicted, the sun melted the wax in the wings and Icarus tumbled quickly, falling in the water and drowning. Daedalus, left with no choice, continued to fly towards safety.
Clearly, Icarus should have chosen the middle way. As it turns out, there is a lot of wisdom in choosing the middle way. Last January, I mentioned Aristotle's principle of the Golden Mean (see "Juste Milieu"). At that time, I was discussing two concepts known as Imposter Syndrome and the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Finding a balance between these two opposite extremes (the former referring to when competent individuals lack self-confidence and the latter referring to when individuals overestimate their degree of competence) is an important aspect of leadership, which so many others have called "confident humility" and ended with a quote from Adam Grant:
Great thinkers don't harbor doubts because they're imposters. They maintain doubts because they know we're all partially blind and they're committed to improving their sight. They don’t boast about how much they know; they marvel at how little they understand. They’re aware that each answer raises new questions, and the quest for knowledge is never finished. A mark of lifelong learners is recognizing that they can learn something from everyone they meet. Arrogance leaves us blind to our weaknesses. Humility is a reflective lens: it helps us see them clearly. Confident humility is a corrective lens: it enables us to overcome those weaknesses.
I wanted to go back to the discussion of finding the right balance. Aristotle's basic principle of the Golden mean found in the second chapter of his Nicomachean Ethics is moderation - finding the right balance between extremes. It is a beautiful concept, and while Aristotle laid out the philosophical principle over 2,500 years ago, similar concepts can be found in the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean and the Buddhist concept of the Middle Way. The Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece bore the inscription, "Nothing in excess." And in Islam, there's a saying. "Every praiseworthy characteristic has two blameworthy poles." Moral behavior, then, is found in the middle of two extremes - on one end there is excess and at the other end deficiency. Every virtue is thus the mean between two opposite extremes. For example, courage is the mean of audacity (excess) and cowardice (deficiency).
The Jewish philosopher Maimonides said, "If a man finds that his nature tends or is disposed to one of these extremes, he should turn back and improve, so as to walk in the way of good people, which is the right way. The right way is the mean in each group of dispositions common to humanity; namely, that disposition which is equally distant from the two extremes in its class, not being nearer to the one than to the other."
I might disagree with Maimonides somewhat (I realize that is being audacious!). I would say that the Golden mean is not necessarily a perfect arithmetical mean. As an analogy, think of the game of baseball. Great hitters talk about finding the "sweet spot" on a baseball bat. If you hit a ball exactly at this spot of the bat, it will make a perfect sound, the ball will fly off the bat with maximum velocity, and the batter won't feel any shock in his or her hands. Importantly, the "sweet spot" of the bat isn't exactly half-way between the ends of the bat (technically, it's at the center of the distribution of mass). When we are looking for our own "sweet spot", we don't necessarily have to find the exact middle.
Finding balance in both your personal and professional life is important. Choosing a path towards the middle and avoiding the extremes is really a good strategy for success in leadership and life.
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