Put biologically: tenacity is permissive for success.
More pertinently, has anyone ever been both a failure and labeled as tenacious? Tenacity seems like one of those words that we use to describe successful people, making the linkage almost embedded within the word and, therefore, uninteresting.
Don't tenacious failures exist in professional sports?
In boxing, there are fighters who never achieve "greatness", or see much success, but are regarded as having heart. What could be more tenacious than knowing you're outmatched and still getting up to press the fight? The 09' Celtics might also be an example.
So, yes, I'd say there are people/organizations who are failures and labeled tenacious.
That's a good point. I think it highlights that we judge people by the number of successes, not the ratio of successes. Even tenacious people who are not very good tend to keep going long enough to have a few successes under their belt. I'm thinking specifically of a difficult person that I worked with who was terrible at their job but went on to get a company launched and a book published. They weren't the greatest in either case, but it's a good example of how tenacity changes the game. There's a big difference between being described as a Failed X vs. Published Author.
The startup may have been labeled a failure, but you were not labeled so (at least, not to my knowledge). The distinction is critical to my point.
If that first business were successful, people fond of the buzzword 'tenacious' might label you tenacious, for toughing out the hard times in order to 'win'. Since it failed, they could keep the buzzword alive by bumping it up a level and saying that you were tenacious in pursuing the entrepreneurial dream, wisely jettisoning that failed project and learning great lessons along the way. Neither of those uses of the word would surprise me.
What would be surprising is if the word 'tenacious' were to be decoupled from success. That is, if you never hit it big but were so renowned for your tenacity that you nevertheless got press or recognition for it. Perhaps Daniel Ruettiger (Rudy, from Notre Dame fame) is the best example of someone who is recognized for his tenacity despite not achieving canonical success.*
* = at least, not in football; he is making plenty as a motivational speaker.
Right. Is there any way to turn it into an interesting discussion? For example, is tenacity something that can be learned?
Here's an interesting obvservation I've had about tenacity. My company has inspired a small niche in the conference industry. There is one other company that launched at the same time as us and six more that are copycats. One thing I've noticed is that the copycats are full of bluster but light on tenacity. I think having the original idea gives you extra backbone because you are tied to the change you want to see in the world. Copycats just see a business opportunity and start to doubt themselves when they hit rough patches.
I believe tenacity can be "learned". I don't know if I'd call it learning though and don't think it's like learning to ride a bike.
Your environment can chisel an "edge" into your personality. Something like a chip on your shoulder. Doesn't this happen a lot in small teams? You against the world? Soldiers in small military units, startups, and again, sports see similar "effects".
Adversity or emotional abuse might produce a similar result. A parent telling a child that something isn't good enough or to not let them down on a task.
Isn't this loosely related to all those posts about not telling kids they're smart?
This is about probable NBA hall-of-famer Reggie Miller and how he turned into a renowned trash talker. Apparently a lot of the drive came from growing up under the thumb of his even more successful older sister. The day he scored 40 points in a high school game was the day she scored 105. He couldn't beat her one-on-one until he was an adult. Now trash-talking is not the same as success, but it takes some tenacity to keep challenging people no matter how the game is flowing.
How many of us wish our parents and siblings were meaner?
I believe that tenacity leads to luck, simply through more tries:
Chance II springs from your energetic, generalized motor activities... the freer they are, the better.
[Chance II] involves the kind of luck [Charles] Kettering... had in mind when he said, "Keep on going and chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down."
More pertinently, has anyone ever been both a failure and labeled as tenacious? Tenacity seems like one of those words that we use to describe successful people, making the linkage almost embedded within the word and, therefore, uninteresting.