Myth #2: Calculation
We calculate all the time, and fail to do so to our own peril. Jesus said, “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” And Aristotle describes a praiseworthy person as someone that “abides by his calculation.”
As with inspiration, calculation brings value to virtually every area of your personal and professional lives. A lack of calculation increases your vulnerability to life’s eventualities. To whatever degree you haven’t thought ahead, planned, identified contingencies, and counted the cost, you open yourself to all kinds of unforeseen circumstances.
How then does it earns its spot as a myth?
As with all myths, calculation’s power to seduce begins with a promise. It usually sounds something like this:
“I can deliver you from the cares and concerns of the world. I’ll help you navigate the chaos and confusion that surrounds. Believe in me and I will protect you. You’ll be safe.”
The person that’s seduced by the myth of calculation believes their system, formula, or a recipe will mitigate uncertainty. Therein lay calculation's persuasive power. It promises deliverance from that which we can’t predict.
You can understand calculation’s appeal. A sense of predictability in an unpredictable world? What’s not to like?
I worked with a leader whom I’ll call Cathy that planned out every moment of every day. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” was among the quotes she routinely. But her employees and family found it difficult to relate with her as a result of her obsessive industriousness. In retrospect she would say that she viewed others as a threat to her perfectly designed plans.
Then life made its entrance.
Cathy discovered that her teenage son had developed an addiction to drugs. As she came to the realization that no amount of calculation could fix the problem with her son, Cathy went into an emotional spiral that rendered her unable to work for days at a time.
Cathy and her husband found help for their son and he’s in recovery from his addictions. The family has healed a lot as well, and even came to recognize value in the tragedy. Cathy has even come to see appreciate those parts of her life that she can’t predict through plans and calculation.
You don’t have to live very long to recognize that you have very little control over what happens to you and the ones you love. Certainly you have a hub of control in which you’re able to shape certain situations and outcomes. Within the hub you see evidence that your choices matter and have an effect.
The person that falls under the spell of the myth of calculation comes to believe that they can expand this hub of control. In this delusion such a person comes to think that they can and even should try to control circumstances and people in their lives. But calculation isn’t the problem. It’s when I put my faith in calculation’s ability to fashion a predictable future that I’ve carried away by its deceptions.
Some people are predisposed by nature to need a high level of control. Others have had experiences in their narrative in which they felt out of control. Both contribute to an individual’s inclination for calculation as a means of feeling in control.
A significant part of taking responsibility for myself as a mature adult means making educated calculations about my relationships, finances, health, and other important areas of life. We just have to know how to recognize calculation’s That’s when we know we’re at risk of being seduced by its lies.
What is your level of vulnerability to the myth of calculation? Some of you don’t resonate as much with this myth, while others know exactly what it’s like to fall under its spell. You know what it’s like to crossover from healthy calculation to a need for calculation that’s fed by an appetite for control.
