Chutzpah is best defined by its synonyms: Nerve, gall, balls, audacity, and guts.
I discovered the word from DHH's post today:
"At first glance, it could seem like Apple actually attempted some semblance of good faith compliance with the Digital Markets Act that goes into effect March 7 in the EU. But once you start peeling the onion, you realize it’s stuffed with poison pills so toxic you can scarcely believe Apple’s chutzpah."
Note that confidence is not one of chutzpah’s synonyms. Confidence empowers one to act, and chutzpah is the courage to do what no one else would dare to do.
Switching gears a bit, let’s contrast uniqueness and significance. Mr. Rogers perfectly defines our uniqueness:
“You are a very special person. There is only one like you in the whole world.”
― Fred Rogers, Life’s Journeys According to Mister Rogers: Things to Remember Along the Way
We are all unique, but that doesn’t make us significant. Many of us don’t want to be significant, and most of us won’t be (that’s what makes significant people significant)1. Rather, like anonymous donors, we want to have a significant impact on others without drawing attention to ourselves. As a result, unimportant strangers perceive you as an unimportant NPC.
When you go from being an NPC to a side character in someone’s story, you become significant. In general, you’re favoured and rewarded when you’re considered important because having guts is the precursor to making decisions that no one else can make.
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket said it best:2
“Private Joker is silly and ignorant, but he’s got guts. And guts is enough.”
The idea is that your life will improve if you dare to do the extraordinary, like
- Asking out the girl in your yoga class
- Telling your calculus teacher that he explained integrals poorly
- Calling out your company for adding unnecessary bureaucracy to small decisions and initiatives
The girl might say yes, the teacher might bring in a guest speaker, and your company might rethink its communication structure and promote you! On the other hand, the girl might report you, the teacher might give you detention, and your company might fire you. Complacency means that you don’t get the good things because you risk getting the bad things.
Getting the good things will motivate you to do even crazier, more reckless, and more dangerous things, forcing you to take aggressive action to be an Agent of Your Will even in the most mundane circumstances.
You may fall to the bottom or rise to the top, but without chutzpah, you’ll get neither.