On Hubris

Hubris fells giants. The quick definitions I pulled for the word hubris are “excessive pride or self-confidence.” and in Greek Tragedies, “excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to retribution or nemesis.”. Hubris mostly affects people who have had some level of success and luck in life, so in a sense hubris may be a positive sign, but it can also be a premonition that things can change suddenly. An old childhood friend of mine once said that his father, who had achieved financial success, had warned him, “The more you have, the less you should risk”. Coincidentally this person had a dramatic fall from grace and saw his company implode. This taught me that even if you know the lessons and the things you should do, it does not mean you will do them or you will be spared from disaster.

At my ripe old age of 42, I am now starting to see first hand many lives, stories, companies, couples and families that have their ups and downs. Though my own life is certainly going as well as one could hope – family and professionally – I am very aware that hubris and danger are constantly lurking around the corner. One entrepreneur I met at dinner admitted that he had built a nice business in the higher education space and then sold it. He then went on to lose 50% of his earnings in the stock market due to his overconfidence in his own judgement. On this specific topic of the stock market and overconfidence, it should be noted even entrepreneurial giants such as John D. Rockefeller were not immune to losing money in the stock market. Rockefeller was notorious for being tight fisted with his own company, Standard Oil, but failing to do proper due diligence on the companies he invested in – losing substantial amounts of money. His wealth was enormous enough that he could suffer some losses, but many people I have known personally have risked too much of what they had due to hubris.

I deeply believe in operating in a lean manner. At my own company, Nimonik, we employ Lean Principles every day and constantly search out waste that can be eliminated and systems that can be optimized. After 17 years of work, I can assure you there is always waste and sub-par systems to fix. It is a never ending battle that we fight every single day. This principle has allowed us to stay leaner than our competitors and execute five acquisitions and continuously grow the business. As we have grown it has been tempting to get nicer offices, spend money on bigger parties and generally relax a bit. I however try to regularly remind myself and my colleagues that the fact that we run a tight ship is a critical factor in our success. One story I like to tell is how a sailing ship in a long distance sailing race around the world had a skipper who ordered all the crewmates to rip out pages from the books as they read the page. They then had to throw the pages overboard to lighten the ship. Of course, the weight of the pages mattered little, but the daily reminder to stay lean and focused made all the difference.

A cousin of mine asked me this summer what common patterns I saw in people who fell from professional hights and saw trouble after so much success. The short answer is quite simple: these high earners developed a costly lifestyle that required cash flow and then something unexpected and bad happened. It could be a lost job, a family illness, bad luck, or some unforeseen change. Very often, these people had too much debt or leverage and then business slowed, lawsuits mounted or the competitive landscape shifted and they were cooked. The stories I have heard are endless.

In today’s world we spend a great deal of time fixated on the rich and famous. I suspect this is not that different from centuries ago when court gossip and obsession with aristocrats ruled the world. But with social media we are inundated with stores of people who have “made it” and seem inspirational. Even main stream media holds up political or financial leaders as near demi-gods who seem to know so much and can profess their opinions on many topics. Shows like Shark Tank, American Idol and others reinforce this structure. If you dig beneath the hood, the majority of these “experts” have no better luck in picking the winners and losers than a chimpanzee – that is to say, it is random. The glorification of success underpins the hubris that people develop when they do succeed. Fighting this hubris and staying humble requires a constant effort. When people ask me which business leader I most respect, my answer is simple: Chuck Feeney. His biography The Billionaire Who Wasn’t explains,

The Billionaire Who Wasn’t tells the inspiring story of Chuck Feeney, known as the “James Bond of philanthropy.” Feeney made a fortune as founder of Duty Free Shoppers (DFS), the world’s largest duty-free retail chain. By 1988, he was hailed by Forbes magazine as the twenty-third richest American alive.

But secretly Feeney had already transferred all his wealth to his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, and anonymously funded hospitals and universities from San Francisco to Limerick to New York to Brisbane, becoming one of the greatest and most mysterious American philanthropists of modern times. His example convinced Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to pledge to give away their fortunes during their lifetimes. 

Chuck had amassed quite a fortune thanks to the profits at DFS and the subsequent sale of the business to LVMH. He had started to accumulate a rich person’s lifestyle with homes in the south of France and elsewhere, but after a revelation he understood that lavish lifestyle was not the path for him and he downsized and started to give away his money anonymously and while he was alive. It should be clear: gave away all of his money (except 40M to his kids) and did so completely and utterly anonymously. No buildings carry his name and no prizes are awarded in his honour. Even his own foundation did not carry his name. He lived in a modest apartment in San Francisco, travelled coach class and wore a simple Casio watch. To me, the anonymity of giving is so critical.

Even in philanthropy, wealthy donors want to put their stamp on buildings and institutions for posterity. There is great hubris in that action. One particularly galling example was the Toronto family of Marco Muzzo who donated money to a local hospital to have their name affixed to it. At the similar time, Marco Muzzo had killed a young family while drunk driving home after returning from a Vegas bachelor party. He killed “four members of the same family, including three young siblings. The Sept. 27, 2015, collision killed three young Neville-Lake children: Daniel, 9, Harrison, 5, and Milly, 2. Their grandfather, Gary Neville, 65, also died in the crash.” The parents were not in the car, but the father of this young family went on to commit suicide out of depression. The shameless attempt by the Muzzos to sanitize their name by sticking it on a hospital is the pinnacle of what is wrong with so much in our world. A lack of shame seems to be the theme of our times and it is inextricably linked to hubris. A lack of shame leads to the confidence that you can get away with anything and it sends a signal to others that you just might. The fact that the hospital accepted to put the Muzzo name on the building seems wrong. The organizations that have placed Muzzo name on the building were all petitioned by thousands of people to remove the names – none did.

Hubris is everywhere, lurking like a silent disease that can take down any person. From a kiss-cam and office affairs to too much debt to safety accidents that could have been prevented, our over-confidence is the root of so many disasters. On of my favourite TED talks is by the monk David Steindl-Rast who explains that the path to happiness is gratefulness. He notes in his talk that every time he turns on a tap and receives fresh clean water, he is grateful. For much of human history safe reliable drinking water was an exception, not the rule. If there is one thing that can combat hubris it is certainly constantly reminding yourself of how lucky we are to be alive, safe from bombs and violence, with access to amazing food and water. Gratefulness, staying lean, avoiding self-aggrandizement, and having shame all seem to be the foundation of combatting hubris. It is a constant effort, but one worth pursuing.