Why Did the Wright Brothers Succeed?

Start of a glide; Wilbur in motion at left holding one end of glider (rebuilt with single vertical rudder), Orville lying prone in machine, and Dan Tate at right, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on October 10, 1902. # Library of Congress

I recently listened to the audiobook “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough and loved it. The author goes into painstaking detail to document everything Orville and Wilbur Wright did in the process of inventing the first human carrying flight machine, AKA the airplane in 1903.

But one of the things that stood to out me in their story was that during this time there were other inventors, academics, and entrepreneurs from around the world who were also in the race for creating the first successful airplane.

There were teams that were better funded, larger, and more experienced. One even had the support of the U.S. Government.

So how was it possible for these two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, who ran a bike shop, to beat all of these teams?

I haven’t studied the other teams in detail but I made 3 observations about the Wright Brothers that I believe contributed to their success.

1. They Were Focused- One Problem At A Time

What I found most amazing was how focused the brothers were on the process of building the plane and nothing else. Everything they did went to support this idea.

The Wright Brothers did it all without borrowing one penny. They had a successful bike shop and its profits were used to help support their dream.

Other teams seemed to be focused on competing for more media attention during this time. They’d invite the press to see them work, they held conferences often to give updates, and to show off their attempts at flying. They seemed just as focused on building the plane as they were on getting the media’s attention.

The Wright Brothers worked in seclusion.

They intentionally picked Kitty Hawk which was a long stretch of land in the middle of nowhere Ohio and infested by mosquitos, because of its strong wind, massive size, and most importantly privacy.

They made a model, tested it, and when it failed they focused on the thing that caused the failure. Then they created a solution and started the process all over again.

It was a process of constant, but tiny improvements. Each failure brought them closer to the goal.

2. They Were Committed

The Wright brothers were committed to their vision. It wasn’t just about money or fame.

Of course, they wanted the financial rewards, but the sacrifices they went through, the constant failures and disappointments, and the ability to come up with creative solutions for technical problems they had never faced went beyond the simple desire for external rewards.

These guys were committed.

The Latin root of the word commit comes from two words: com and mittere which combines the words “to connect or combine” and “to release and let go”.

When you commit to something you are joining yourself to that one thing letting go of the rest. That’s why we normally use the word commitment when talking about marriage.

The bothers were both equally committed to seeing their vision come to life. With every setback, failure, or broken part the brothers were actually getting closer to solving the problem of human flight.

At no point did their commitment weaken.

They were being led more by commitment than by their feelings, fame, or money. To me, commitment is one of those heart words because it defies logic.

In the book, “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek, he credited the brothers’ success to them knowing their “why”. But to me it’s more than that.

This is more than just motivation or inspiration. I think it’s stronger than having a logical reason or explanation.

3. They Were Obsessed

I love the idea of quietly working on a big problem and gradually working away at it. The Wright Brothers weren’t necessarily smarter, harder working, or better funded then the others groups.

However, I got the impression they were more focused or maybe obsessed is a better word. I know the word obsessed has a negative connotation, but it doesn’t have to be.

It all depends on what you’re obsessed about. Something people are obsessed with shopping and some with finding a cure to cancer.

You can be obsessed about things that matter. Or you can be obsessed about solving a big problem.

We’re all obsessed about something or things. Some of us have obsessions we haven’t recognized.

The Wright Brothers had a life outside of building an airplane. They had other interests and responsibilities in their communities, but their mission was crystal clear.

So, what about you? Are you focused, committed, or obsessed about anything that’s important to you?

Confusion Leads To Chaos

by Andres Valdes | Brand Building, Leadership

I’ve been in a stink lately with respect to my business goals. Ever since my book was published it’s become clear that I didn’t have a plan post-publishing my book.

One of the reasons I haven’t achieved my business goals is because I lacked clarity in what I wanted and my plan to get there. I haven’t been clear about my goals or my next steps. And I haven’t had something specific to work on daily that would produce the results I wanted.

All of this means I haven’t had much traction if any. So now I’m taking a few steps back to work on the basics.

And by basics I mean:

Clarity of what I want at this stage.
Identifying daily tasks.
Identify what is my next big goal.

One thing I’ve been lacking is knowing what skill to develop on a daily or weekly basis which I’ve learned is critical.

In the process of building a business, one of the things I’ve noticed from my favorite people is the importance of having a limited list of specific skills to develop through small, but consistent actions.

I noticed from some of the successful entrepreneurs I’ve been studying that they’ve focused on mastering one or maybe two skills first and then adding other skills later.

They mastered ONE THING first. In the process, they developed multiple skills, but they’ve always had one core skill or foundational skill.

For example, Michael Hyatt spent years blogging which eventually led to writing books, paid speaking coaching, and also podcasting. But blogging is his main medium and skill.

John Maxwell started off as the lead pastor of a church for many years where he developed his leadership, thinking and storytelling skills. I’ve heard him say that speaking is his foundational skill or his area of “giftedness” as he likes to stay. Despite him having published close to a 100 books, speaking is his main thing. In fact, he uses someone else to write his books.

Eric Thomas, another Pastor, started by publishing one inspirational video per week to his youtube channel about ten years ago in addition to pastoral career. Today he’s described by some as the number one motivational speaker in the world. Since starting, he’s written multiple books, started a podcast, held live events, started multiple coaching businesses and other businesses as well. But speaking is his primary skill and video is his medium.

But focusing on specific skills isn’t just for entrepreneurs, it’s for regular careers as well. In fact, I just read about this in the book “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” by Cal Newport.

I highly recommend it.

Newport’s #1 rule is: Don’t follow your passion.

Instead of following your passion, Newport argues for what he calls the “craftsman mindset.” According to Newport, passion seekers ask themselves, “What can the world offer me?” But a craftsman asks

“What can I offer the world?”

And by “offer” he’s referring to a specific valuable skill that’s in demand. He views these skills as “career capital.”

My favorite entrepreneurs/role models have been working on a few laser focused skills consistently for years and over time have become experts in specific areas.

I want to decide on one skill to work on consistently and that’s where I’ve been stuck. The truth is I’ve been afraid of committing to one thing out of fear of missing out on all the other shiny objects around me.

But without clarity and focus there’s chaos and confusion the greatest tool for failure. If you can’t see your target how can you hit it?

I now realize we have the potential to be all over the place and in the process not stake a flag on any territory. With laser beam focus we waste less time to confusion, so we can get the right things done faster. We have a target.

Do you have one or two skills that you are working to master?

4 Resources To Help You Focus (Part 4)

by Andres Valdes | Personal Development

This is the last post in this four part series on focus.

If you read first three you are a wild BEAST!

Can I share something that scares me?

One of my biggest fears in my life is to work somewhere I hate when I’m elderly. I have a specific job in mind, but I won’t say what it is out of respect for people doing that work now.

Let’s just say I don’t want to be in that situation. And I’m sure the majority of the people in that job don’t want to be there either. Do you think an 80-year-old person who should enjoying his retirement wants to have crappy job? No freaking way! (more…)

4 Resources To Help You Focus (Part 2)

by Andres Valdes | Personal Development

Blurry train. Warsaw, Poland 2015.

Welcome back!

In case you missed my first post in this series, check it out. It has one of my favorite photographs!

Over the past three years I’ve come across a few resources and books that have had a big impact on my life. These resources have changed my perspective on a lot of things. (more…)

4 Resources To Help You Focus (Part 1)

by Andres Valdes | Leadership

“I’m Focused, Man!”

This is my first post in a 4 part series on resources to help us focus.

(This is also my first series. 🙂 )

Have you noticed that there’s never been a harder to time to focus. We have to deal these daily:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Snapchat (whatever that is)
Instant messaging
Instant movies
email
News tickers
400 cable channels

There’s a bunch of other stuff not incuded here begging for our attention every second of the day. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time focusing on anything for more than five minutes. I have a hard time reading an entire newspaper article.

One of the unexpected benefits of blogging is that it gives me time to focus my thoughts on one subject per post. I like that. I need it. But I’m not talking about focusing for a few minutes. I’m thinking more about how we focus our lives.

When I saw this guy I had to take his picture. But he was walking so fast I couldn’t get my camera to focus on him. He looked 70 years old, but he was walking so fast and with so much determination he kept moving outside of my focus. I finally ran up close behind him and started snapping pictures before he got out of my focus again.

Without an object to focus on, it’s impossible to get a good picture, right? You don’t have to be a pro-photographer to know that. It’s the same thing in life.

If you want better results, you need to have a target in focus.

But not just any target; we need the best things to focus on. And when we find the right things to focus on it changes our lives for the better. I learning that focusing on the right things; makes the right things happen.

How do you know if you are focusing on the right things? We have to be aware of how we spend our time, even the minutes. Regardless of who you are, we all have the same 24 hours in one day to use–even Beyonce. And we all have the ability to choose how we’ll spend that time.

But first we have to understand or become aware of our own mortality ( my post on mortality). It sounds creepy, but it’s not. No one lives forever and those who act like they will end up wasting their lives. And when we understand our mortality, we start to value our greatest resource- TIME. This is where it starts.

We have to value every minute of our lives. Maybe this is what Bruce Lee was thinking when he said,

“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”

So what are you most focused on?

Over the next few posts I’ll share three other resrouces that have helped me direct my focus. If you need help in this area, stay tuned. I’m not an expert or a guru, but I have a PH.D from the prestigious School of Hard Knocks.