The Value of Recognition

In the Oscar winning film ‘A Beautiful Mind’ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/), John Nash pleads before Prof Helinger at Princeton for more time to submit his paper. ‘What do you see, John?’ the prof points at an ongoing ceremony honouring a fellow professor for his lifetime achievement. ‘Recognition’, honest answer. ‘Well, try and see accomplishment’, snaps the professor. ‘Is there a difference?’ asks John, pointing that the important distinction between these two terms is lost to this world.

Indeed, recognition and accomplishment, although not the same, get diffused into each other more often than not. It always feels great when I am rewarded for an achievement, regardless of whether I may have thought much of it myself. On the other hand, I start questioning wins that I don’t find being received as much as I had expected. I think that’s natural, and it only makes me human, nothing wrong with that. But, does it mean accomplishment is supposed to be measured by the scale of its acceptance and reward? What then is accomplishment, in its absolute sense?

Take writing, for instance. The freely accessible online platforms have made the term ‘published author’ redundant. There is virtually no need for a publisher’s endorsement before content reaches its readers. The space is as crowded as it could get. It would be almost discouraging for anyone to start writing with the goal of creating a best-seller in the first attempt. What is the motivation then for so many to plunge into it, knowing they’d have a tough time rising above the rest? It could be the subject, the drive to share knowledge with others, the enrichment in the process or plain love for writing or expressing ideas. These are signs of a pursuit for true accomplishment.

The world of business, consumers and brand, on the other hand, rests on the bedrock of ‘perceived’ value. Success here lies in how uniquely valuable your product is deemed by the consumers. The top line of your profit statement is a number, but it could have been zero if you didn’t make people recognize the value you bring through your business’s offerings, enough for them to buy. So isn’t recognition the defining factor for accomplishment here? I say it’s not, because accomplishment for a for-profit business, as a whole, lies not in the products it develops, not even in the love for its brand it enjoys--it lies in the wealth it creates for its stakeholders. That value is real, in black and white, undeniable and unambiguous. Everything else is just a means to that end.

Accomplishment is hence absolute. Some define it as the satisfaction when you just instinctively know you have ‘created’ or ‘discovered’. It’s that thing which keeps you going until your creation is ready to take to the world! It could be a picture you have clicked, a story you have written or a product idea you have worked hard to bring to daylight, you just know it. Its greatness is not relative to anything else. It is just being greater than you have ever got, coming farther than you have ever before. Recognition only follows.

Nice to hear, but is it practical in a world of interdependence? Can there be a non-utopian state when there is no value of recognition?  What will happen to learning and improving from feedback, what will it be like without the most respected business tycoons and the most celebrated artists? What would stars be without their fans? Perhaps the only possible answer is, it should only matter to the fans, not to the stars! 

When John Nash finally came up with his original idea, it refuted over a century of economic theory, and successfully so. It didn’t matter what anyone said, he had proved he was right. Decades later, he was awarded the Nobel for the same breakthrough. Did that make his accomplishment any greater than it was already?