“For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” - T.S Eliot
I’ve always disliked workplaces that don’t feel earnest. In fact, the more I think about it, I tend to feel more comfortable in all groups and situations where people default to enthusiasm, sincerity and visibly “trying” in some way, shape or form.
This is probably why I enjoy working in early stage startups so much, as they are sort of a magnet for earnest people. My experience is that people who have personalities defined by being overly ironic, snarky or cynical, generally don’t make it in startups.
This is a good MetaFilter thread in which some people on the internet discuss and explore their own definitions and experience with people they consider earnest. It’s interesting to read how different cultures both exhibit and perceive earnestness. It seems very clear to me for example that American’s (and particularly non-coastal ones) bias far more to earnestness than Brits or Australians (like me), who have a shared culture far more influenced by tall-poppy-syndrome, “banter” and cynicism.
Using that thread as a rough guide, the most “admired” aspects of earnestness are sincerity, kindness, seriousness, and openness. On the flip side, people often associate it with naïveté, a lack of humour, or just being a bit intense.
All things considered, I like being around earnest people, and I strive to be more earnest myself. One of my favourite quotes is: “the life of a pessimist is easy but dreary. The life of an optimist is hard but exciting”. For me, optimism and earnestness go hand-in-hand. It’s hard to be one without the other.
