Learning Through Contrast

Contrast.

The greatest teacher of all time. And Thomas Hardy knew it.

Learning and growth is incredibly addictive, but drowning in business and development books can also get a little overwhelming.

This is when I reach for contrast, perhaps a romance novel from one of the Victorian greats, like the one I’m holding here.

The concept of contrast is that it amplifies learning through comparison of what is “not”.

When I think about this in the context of some of the worst experiences in business that I had, it would be easy to say that I’m grateful for the growth:

-> the micro manager that I had to hide from

-> the PE-backed company that always paid suppliers late

-> the FMCG that stuffed the channel to accelerate rev rec

-> the CEO’s that shouted at me for withholding budget

-> the boards that couldn’t make an ambitious decision

-> short-term restructuring decisions that cut too deep

Easy and naive. For it really hurt at the time.

But each of these experiences did shape me for the better.

I learnt from contrast.

One of the exercises I do with my corporate teams is to challenge them to identify one such negative experience over the course of their careers and then write down 5 positive and specific examples of how it subsequently shaped them.

I wonder if you can take 2 minutes and do this exercise now in your mind.

You may find that you learnt more from this negative experience, ie from contrast, than had it never occurred in the first place.

As for Hardy’s protagonist in this beautiful story, strong-willed Bathsheba Everdene faced the choice of 3 very contrasting suitors: the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak, the wealthy and reclusive Farmer Boldwood, and the dashing but reckless Sergeant Troy.

And, as if in the perfect metaphor for all of life’s questions, the answer was love.

Contrast.

The greatest teacher of all time.