"Focus is scary. It means not hedging your bets. It means going all-in. If you’re not scared, you’re not focused."
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-i...
"If you’re not scared, you’re not focused" sounds like "Babytalk" - the language that sociopaths and losers use to speak to the clueless - who actually take these statements at face value.
It's a great, intriguing read - certainly one that was genuinely new and unexpected to me.
Funny to classify co-wokers and bosses accordingly. or not so fun, that depends... :-)
Certainly one of the best reads on organizational psychology I know.
I think it's a faulty claim. Doesn't work like this in many fields: science, martial arts, medicine (particularly neurosurgery), etc.
Say that you'd like to work on two projects - A and B. Atleast one of them needs to succeed or you'll go bankrupt(or something). Now, most people will probably think that if they divide their attention between both projects, they have a higher chance of bringing in some money. The thinking here is "Even if A doesn't take off, B might still bring in some money". So, B is the cushion against failure of A (or vice-versa). But this plan lacks focus - You cannot fully focus on A or B. Removing either improves focus but it also removes the cushion.
That's what he means by getting "scared".
They go overboard with this 'go bankrupt' argument to scare themselves to fight. It is the same as if the surgeons would start thinking 'Oh God, this patient is gonna die if I make a mistake' all the time. I don't see how this can help the patients.