What do we give up when we surrender to processes, procedures, and an arcane systems of spoken and unspoken rules? Exceptional performance is no longer worth much. Because the rules and their arbitrary enforcement decide who will succeed and who will fail, success and recognition are no longer coupled to results. Compliance, which usually means that nothing of note has actually been achieved, becomes the go to strategy to power and riches. Well, that and corruption.
Personal effort and sacrifice are not recognized in a system that rewards compliance and conformity. Systems seek to perpetuate themselves. The best person to run a system is the person who has shown the greatest aptitude to preserve that system. The Army of World War II was much different than the Army that has been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Post WWII, the Army became more bureaucratic. The system evolved to protect generals from the responsibility of leadership. Do what's expected and you'll be fine.
But exceptional performance is all about doing what is NOT expected. Sticking with the routine in pursuit of the status quo just returns more of the same. There's no growth. The next breakthrough will come when somebody goes outside of the system to find something new. That effort will come from an individual's desire to make shake things up. People look to shake things up for all kinds of reasons, but recognition for that effort justifies the risk and struggle. The success of the US can largely be ascribed to the financial and social rewards that come from working your ass off to make something happen. People want to get rich because rich people get the beautiful woman, the fancy house, and the freedom to do whatever the hell they want.
It also helps that there are plenty of resources floating around for people with the inclination to go get them. You can get a loan if you need one. Come up with a decent tech proposal and you can get funding. It's fairly straight-forward to start a business. In all these arrangements, an individual tasks on the risk of the loan and applies all their skill and effort into making something bigger and better. You take the risk, you get the rewards.
Accepting the system, surrendering to the ease and predictability of the illusion of comfort and predictability, removes the chance that you'll get rich and famous by applying your expertise to a valuable problem. The more systems we live under, the fewer opportunities there will be to pursue the rewards for individual excellence. On election night, I could feel that we're shifting to a state where more and more people are comfortable with the system. The implications of that recognition are profound and very unsettling.
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