Last week I talked about taking massive action. This week let's talk about
a corollary to the concept of massive action. If you take massive
action, there is on thing you can be certain of, you will make lots
of mistakes.
Last
week I gave the example of a healthy marriage. If you want a loving
relationship you will need a lot of communication. And, when you talk
a lot, you are bound to make mistakes. You will put your foot in your
mouth. Do it anyway, right? It is important.
For our
current purposes, we will focus on business and entrepreneurship.
Hopefully, by now, you are convinced that entrepreneurship and selling are inextricably woven together. You cannot be an
entrepreneur with being a salesperson. I guess you could be a
salesperson without being an entrepreneur. That is to say, you could
be a salesperson without innovating. But, you will not last very
long.
One
thing we know for sure, selling and entrepreneurship demands that we
fail. It demands that we show up and be seen. And, like Brene Brown
says, when you show up you can be certain of only one thing. You will
get your butt kicked!
Of
course, when we fear making mistakes we often compensate with
perfection. We become perfectionists. This idea was summed up,
beautifully, in a quote I once read from Robert Kiyosaki. The quote
simply said, “Perfection stops entrepreneurship.”
Additionally, I think
we have all heard the old Tom Watson quote that says something to the
effect of, “In order to succeed, you need to double your rate of
failure.” It is a memorable idea. Mostly because it is so counter-intuitive. Indeed, it is a paradox.
The
other day I was watching a short clip, from an interview between Bryan
Elliott and Gary Vaynerchuk. In the very beginning of the clip,
Elliott asks Vaynerchuk what mistakes he has made. And Gary's
response was priceless. With typical Vaynerchuk speed, brevity, and intensity Gary V responded, “Most of them.”
Vaynerchuk
went on to say that he is obsessed with mistakes. Currently, much of
Vaynerchuk's time is spent running his company, VaynerMedia. And, in
no uncertain terms, Gary told Bryan Elliot that VaynerMedia was a
mistake. What's more, Gary said he knew VaynerMedia was a mistake
before he started it.
Understandably, Elliot was a bit puzzled. So Vaynerchuk clarified, saying that his
media company is client-work. And, that is a mistake because client-work does not scale. However, when we start to understand, what Gary really means, we realize he did not make
a mistake. Vaynerchuk is one smart dude and puts much thought into
his decisions.
To
understand Vaynerchuk's decision I will make another quick mention of
Robert Kiyosaki. In his book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki makes a
rather astute and counter-intuitive observation. Kiyosaki says the
rich do not work for money. The money certainly comes, but that is not necessarily the focus. One of the important things to focus on is developing the necessary knowledge and skills. And, that is what Vaynerchuk is talking about.
Gary
admits he did not understand corporate America. So, he started
VaynerMedia to gain a real-world education on the ins-and-outs of his
client base. Very wise indeed.
The
point I am trying to make is that mistakes are 100% inseparable from
successes. Indeed, sometimes it is impossible to tell the two apart.
This is one of the main themes in a great book titled Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins.
In a
sense, starting VaynerMedia was a mistake. It was a mistake if you
have a rugged, entrepreneurial perspective that says the only purpose of
starting a business is to get rich quickly. However, if you
remember Kiyosaki's advice, you remember a second form of enrichment.
Namely, the enrichment of real-world education. So, in this sense,
VaynerMedia was the exact right thing to do.
The
exact same decision, the exact same activities, can simultaneously be
a mistake and a success. Stated differently, often making a mistake
is the exact right thing to do. To my way of thinking, these are the
sorts of delicious complexities that make life fun and engaging.
More to come!
