Learning from our successes has yet another significant result: It increases our belief in our self-efficacy. When we see vivid proof that our actions have led to the results we wanted, however few and far between the instances may be, we're compelled to admit (perhaps reluctantly) that we are indeed capable of influencing our surroundings and making a difference in the world.
Seeing oneself as more effective and powerful can advance every dimension of an individual's life. And when a group of people shares a strong sense of efficacy, they'll see more choices available to them, set their sights higher, put more effort into reaching their goals, remain resilient in the face of circumstances, and increase their likelihood of success.
There's been a good bit of research done on self-efficacy, and it holds some surprises. For starters, it up-ends the conventional wisdom that it's important to be realistic about your abilities, and that holding an inflated view of your capacities is bound to get you into trouble.
Instead, the research shows that the people who overestimate their own capabilities are the very ones who make the best use of their potential.
This shakes up yet another popular notion: That a sense of accomplishment, or even just plain feeling good about yourself, is a character flaw (or worse, sinful). It means you're prideful, smug, "full of yourself." And it leads to laziness and complacency.
So when we do feel powerful or accomplished, even if momentarily, we may doubt ourselves, or chalk it up to dumb luck. We may even feel the "imposter complex," especially when others give us more credit than we think we're due, and rush to give all the credit to someone else, or to providence.
All of these feelings are understandable. But in fact, cultivating a strong sense of self-efficacy is extremely valuable. Doing so lets people see more options for action, more ways to exercise their talents, more avenues for self-expression and contribution. It may seem counterintuitive, but seeing the full extent of what we've achieved makes us more ambitious, not less.
The bottom line for those who want to make a difference in the world is this: People who hold "unrealistically" rosy opinions of their abilities also tend to make the greatest contributions to society. What is often dismissed as self-deception is actually very functional. Indeed, it's essential if we're to aspire to anything beyond the routine.
What I find especially fascinating is that self-efficacy is best developed by actual experiences of successes, times when we show ourselves that we're competent and capable in having influence on the world around us. It's also developed by seeing others--especially others who are like us--having such experiences.
Simply being told that we are capable builds a sense of potency to some extent, but these actual experiences are much more powerful.
So if we want to increase a person's belief in their own efficacy, we'll make a little progress by telling them how great they are.
A far more effective approach would be to offer them opportunities to live and relive their successes and the successes of others--to study, savor, and learn from those best experiences. When this practice moves beyond a person or two into a larger group, it can magnify its power and invigorate whole systems.
Perhaps most important, we gain faith that the future is open to our influence.
That's more significant than it may seem at first blush. Recall Frederick Polak's observation that a culture's rise or fall depends on of its guiding image of the future: A vital image of the future means the culture is flourishing. A bleak image and the culture's prospects are dimmed.
Polak also observed that promising images of the future emerge most strongly when people share a strong sense of what he called "influence-optimism"--a belief that the future can be influenced and that we are capable of influencing it. (You'll recognize this as a close cousin to the notion of self-efficacy.)
For those of us who work to bring about social change, a stance of collective efficacy can make history.