Confidence vs. over-confidence

By now you’ve probably seen how during the 2017 academy awards the wrong winner was announced for best picture. This was the biggest blunder in the academy’s history and everyone is asking how could this happen. My assertion is the culprit is over-confidence.

What many of you may have not seen is the red carpet interview withBrian Cullinan, he was one of the accountants charged with handing out the correct envelopes and is responsible for the mistake. During Mr.  Cullinan’s red carpet interview he stated  how he had done this many times and he had no reason to be nervous. Maybe he should have been a little nervous.

This case study highlights the classic difference between confidence and over-confidence. Confidence is good, it encourages us to take on new challenges and go outside of our comfort zone. However, if we are not diligent confidence can erode into over-confidence. Over-confidence is not good because it convinces people they don’t need to prepare as much. Preparation builds justifiable confidence and prevents over-confidence.

I’d be willing to bet Mr. Cullinan was the best in the business for securing and delivering the academy envelopes for years. But somewhere along the way he allowed his confidence to morph into over-confidence. Now he’s banned from the academy awards for life and the most hated person in Hollywood. Be that as it may, I wouldn’t worry too much about poor Mr. Cullinan, there is a probably a reality show in his near future. I’m just happy this happened during the academy awards and not something important. 😉

The academy awards best picture debacle is a cautionary tale for all experienced, confident professionals out there…confidence, not over-confidence or you could end up on Dancing with the Stars like Mr. Cullinan. That’s my prediction for his first show.

Stay confident my friends