SEIFFE:  Racing Towards Damascus

Thursday, April 5, 2007

By Ralf Seiffe

Over the years, I have been fascinated with fast cars and the men who race them. My collection of car buddies includes talented drivers who get a kick out of flirting with danger but who survive because they are adventurous, not foolhardy.  One way they keep from hurting themselves is to quickly identify other racers who pose a threat and avoid them.  I am reminded of how race drivers quickly make these decisions as I watch Nancy Pelosi make a fool of herself overseas. 

Racing sports cars has much in common with politics.  Long distance road racing involves thoughtful preparation, race day strategy and more than a little swagger at the pre-race driver’s meeting. Unlike drag racing, which demands little more than brute force, winning a road race requires good equipment, some brains, lots of talent and luck in increasing correspondence with a race’s distance. 

Like politics, motor racing is an expensive sport and it attracts folks with more bucks than brains.  Motor racing dilettantes, usually the uber-rich, participate because they can afford to, despite their lack of skill. In that way, they are a lot like the Senate’s Democrats but unlike our politicians, these drivers soon eliminate themselves by accident or by banishment from tracks fearful of their incompetence. The trick for the talented driver is to be far, far in front when these bad guys flame out. 

A few years back, far into the third or fourth bottle of an exquisite chianti we were sharing near Wisconsin’s Road America, I asked one of my race buddies how he knows whom to avoid on the track.  As a four-time, national road racing champion he was the right guy to ask and his response was memorable.

“There are four kinds of drivers,” he started.  “The best are those who are masters because they have some God-given talent.  Juan-Manuel Fangio, Mark Donahue and Michael Schumacher are in that category.  They are so good that they drive almost unconsciously.  It is a skill that cannot be learned; one either has it or not and I have seen only a few in a lifetime of racing in the U.S. and Europe.”  He categorized these drivers as “unconscious competents” and the most talented stars of the sport. 

The next category is what he described as “conscious competents.” This multiple, national champ placed himself in this next rung of drivers who have talent but, must constantly and consciously work to do their best. They prepare diligently, worry about the equipment and walk the track before the first practice or qualifying rounds.  When they are at their best, they will compete with the better drivers and possibly win. But it’s not easy--they have to work at it.  When the race is over, the “ordeal” shows on their face. 

“Outside the ranks of the competent are the other sort,” he continued.  There are two varieties according to my friend.  The “conscious incompetents” are those who are in over their head and they know it.  “They let you pass in the corners and back off when they can see a situation that is beyond their ability. They are more of a nuisance than a hazard.” “Who then,” I asked “is the driver you fear most? 

“The unconscious incompetent” he quickly replied.  The driver who does not know his limits is the one who poses real danger on the race track.  He will constantly overestimate his powers and ability, blithering from corner to corner, unaware of his own faults and creating real hazards on the circuit.  Eventually, he crashes or causes someone else to upset.  It is amazing how little mistakes these fools make--errors that any good driver would never make--compound into major accidents.” 

This idea of a four quadrant, “matrix of competence” is an excellent tool for quickly categorizing the talents and abilities of folks in all manner of situations.  Consider how our traveling Speaker of the House brought a message from the Israelis to the thug of Damascus.  An extraordinary botch, which she apparently does not comprehend, and which creates danger to ourselves and our allies.  In which quadrant would you put Ms. Pelosi?  If I remember Descartes’ coordinates, it’s exactly as one would expect--left… and low. 

© 2007 Ralf Seiffe

Ralf Seiffe advises business start-ups and product launches from Chicago, Illinois and is a political analyst and columnist for the Illinois Leader and Illinois Review.

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