A Letter from Chris Suarez
THE STRATEGY OF HOPE
There are certain expressions that we often hear that cause a visceral reaction within us. One of those for me has been the expression, “I hope…”
I often hear people start a sentence with those two words. They hope things work out. They hope to hit certain sales targets. They hope to get something done. They hope they reach specific life goals. My immediate reaction is to respond with the simple statement, “Hope is not a strategy.” I have long held the sentiment that hoping something into existence is not possible. If we hope to accomplish something or achieve something or to produce something, then we must have a strategy attached to that hope. Hope in it of itself is not a strategy.
Recently one of my partners sent me a fascinating study that has changed my perspective - the very reason to have partners.
Back in the 1950’s, Curt Richter, a well-known scientist at Johns Hopkins University decided to run a series of experiments using water, buckets, and rats. Clearly, we have come a long way in the proper relationship between science and animals. But back in the 50’s Richter wanted to see how long rats could swim before they drowned.
Richter put rats into large buckets of water. Now, rats are notoriously good swimmers, so on average they lasted about 15 minutes swimming for their life, before they gave up and slowly sank to the bottom of the bucket.
In a side-by-side experiment, nearing that 15 minute mark, as the rats began to give up and sink, Richter pulled the rat out of the bucket to safety. He dried them off, allowed them a brief moment to rest, and then unfortunately placed them right back into the same water-filled bucket to see what happened.
We might immediately think that the rats either swam for the same 15 minutes, or perhaps even a bit shorter amount of time since they had exhorted such energy just a few moments previously. But the results were shocking. The same rats that had swam for just 15 minutes prior, actually swam for 60 HOURS straight when placed back into the bucket. Yes hours, not minutes. They swam for two and half days straight before giving up and sinking to the bottom of the bucket.
First, I like you, imagine that Richter must have saved every one of those rats once they began to sink to the bottom of the bucket, allowing them to live out the rest of their happy, cheese-filled eating days. I’d like to believe that no rats were harmed in the execution of the experiment.
Second, the rats had no strategy during those 60 hours. They just had a glimmer of hope that if they just kept swimming, those hands would dip back into the bucket again, grabbing their little body, and bringing them to safety. The simple hope of being saved led to an extraordinary multiple of 240 times the effort of the rat without hope.
The rats that were saved from drowning even temporarily were given a hope so strong, it changed their perspective, their effort, ultimately their drive for survival. They had the strategy of hope. In Richter’s report after the experiment he simply wrote, “after elimination of hopelessness, the rats do not die.”
Now, let’s be honest. At some point in the last year, we have all felt like a drowned rat. We’ve all felt like we were treading water. We all felt like we were slipping under the surface. A few of us may have even hit the bottom of the bucket. Any situation that appears “hopeless” is not worth fighting for.
But when given even a glimmer of hope, all of us are willing to start swimming again. All of us are willing to keep moving. All of us are willing to keep our head above water on our way to accomplishing something, achieving something, or producing something.
We all need to find the hope, however small, in every situation. Our personal relationships, our businesses, our health goals, our spiritual lives. And we all need to offer that hope to others along the way. Be hope givers.
So many around us are looking and searching for that hope. So many around us have been treading water and are at minute 15. So be those two hands that reach into the bucket and pull them out. Dry them off. Give them a brief rest. Provide them with even a glimmer of hope. The power of a helping hand not only drives energy towards the future, it can literally save lives.
In my book, hope is officially a strategy.
Chris
