Intentional Humility

It was perhaps in the 7th century that John of Karpathos wrote:

It is most necessary and helpful for the soul to endure with fortitude every tribulation…We should recognize that our sufferings are no more than we deserve, and we should never blame anyone but ourselves. For whoever blames others for his own tribulations has lost the power of judging correctly what is to his own advantage.

In the 21st century, Jim Collins wrote:

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.

Perhaps in the 22nd century, someone will write, “Check for a bug in your own algorithm first.”