The Stockdale Paradox

“This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” -Jim Stockdale

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The term "Stockdale Paradox" comes from Jim Collin's book Good to Great and that is where I was first introduced to the idea. Jim Stockdale has his own book that talks about his experience but I am pulling my thoughts for this blog post from the account given in Good to Great.

The Stockdale Paradox is given in the quote above but to rephrase it the paradox is that in order to thrive or even to survive in a difficult environment you must be able to do two opposing things at the same time. You must be able to hold on to your faith that things will get better while still confronting the brutal facts of your current situation. I added the emphasis on brutal because you can't afford to sugar coat the facts of the situation. Where does this idea come from?

Admiral Jim Stockdale was the highest ranking US military officer in the "Hanoi Hilton" prisoner of war camp in the Vietnam War. He was a prisoner for eight years and was tutored over twenty times. When Jim Collins asked him who didn't make it out of the camp he answered "Oh that's easy. The optimists... They were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.” He then explained to Jim what Jim started calling the Stockdale Paradox. That you have to face the harsh reality of your situation without losing faith in the future. 

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Leadership Lesson

There will always be difficult situations. When you encounter them you must maintain your faith in a positive future without losing sight of the brutal reality of your current situation. The facts must be kept unadulterated, devoid of sugar coating so that they can be seen for what they are. Only then can you determine the next steps. Do not lose your faith but do not allow your faith to devolve into a baseless fairytale that only blinds you to what you need to do. Do not lose your faith to despair that cripples your action and dooms you to failure. You must find the balance in the paradox.