The Wallenda Factor

While chatting with a friend about keeping one’s self alive and well, he mentioned the term “Wallenda Factor”. I had to look it up in Google as it was a new term to me and what I found triggered some interesting thoughts in my mind.

Just in case there are others like me out there who have not heard of this, the Wallenda factor refers to the fear of falling or failing. Shortly after Karl Wallenda fell to his death in 1978 (traversing a 75-foot high wire in downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico), his wife, also an aerialist, discussed that fateful San Juan walk, “perhaps his most dangerous.” She recalled: “All Karl thought about for three straight months prior to it was falling. It was the first time he’d ever thought about that, and it seemed to me that he put all his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope.”

Mrs. Wallenda added that her husband even went so far as to personally supervise the installation of the tightrope, making certain that the guide wires were secure, something he had never thought of doing before. When Karl Wallenda poured his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope, he was virtually destined to fall.

I realized that most people and even organizations tend to develop this orientation over a period of time, especially when they become more successful. When one starts off life with little to lose, the focus is on trying new things, experimenting, taking risks. The focus is on learning, experiencing and growth. Usually this makes life richer, more interesting and lot of fun. One gets caught in a positive cycle which often is self sustaining.

For the average person, then comes marriage, children, monetary responsibilities, home loan EMI’s and a focus on savings. And along with it comes a shift in focus and orientation. Slowly the focus is on managing the unknown future, usually through a monetary cushion. This is the crux of the issue. We fear the unknown! I guess that’s the single largest reason why death inspires so much of discomfort and fear. One does not know for sure what lies on the other side.

So, with the change in focus the Wallenda Factor kicks in fully. One gets increasingly bogged down in avoiding failure.

The same can be said for many organizations. When they are in the start up stage, the focus is on success and usually they succeed. And then the focus shifts on sustaining the success or rather avoiding failure. This leads to less of innovation and experimentation and more of reviews and analysis. I remember a comment which aptly describes the latter behavior; “Driving while looking only in the rearview mirror”. Is it any wonder that accidents happen?

Over a period of time, one finds that the conversation centres increasingly around the good old days.
This has been discussed and debated in the leadership context in various publications and not succumbing to the Wallenda Factor is considered to be an important leadership trait.

I am more focused on how the average person can recognize and avoid this orientation to live a fuller and more meaningful life. If you are a victim of the Wallenda Factor, the following guidelines might be helpful:

Acceptance: Accept that the unknown will always be unknown.

Continued focus on learning: There is no greater fun than learning new things. A case in point is this article, which came about because I did not know something. Learning something keeps the mind agile and also diverted. It could be something to do with your line of work, art, craft or even just plain old whistling!

Constantly share and thereby enrich others: Sharing could be anything. Your knowledge, experiences, memories or money! The internet today has made sharing so much so easier. Don’t let the imagination die down.

In short, keep the child inside alive, well and kicking. Be curious, experiment and enjoy the journey.