If you cannot fail, you cannot learn.
Eric Ries – Author
COVID unemployed millions. What are these folks gonna do? May be, they should consider thinking, creating, and doing something different.
But as you know, nothing comes free. There’s no free lunch. A great idea executed effectively can’t guarantee instant success. This is done through hustle, grind, grit, and crushing it. Just look at the U.S. women’s soccer team. However, this path is not for everyone.
My story: My life’s mantra is: “be a risk taker, fail fast, and fall forward .” I’m an engineer, who takes risks, that means that I fail 90% of the time. Not good. How do I survive? Grit is required. Resilience ensures that I get back to task after lots of blood, sweat, and tears. It’s not a fun ride. But like crack, risk taking is addictive.
So, is there a well-defined success path? No. If there were, everyone would follow it and there would be no risk. So, it’s different for everyone. The startup mantra is a personal blueprint of risk taking by following and applying your lessons earned. But remember, they have to be applied based on context.
For many, the startup life is a rite of passage to corporate and individual business success. Companies want to self-disrupt and act like a startup. So, startup life lessons learned evolve into work lessons earned that can be used in lots of businesses and work opportunities.
Startup life is built on trials, errors, and numerous failures. This is never fun! None of us like to admit failure. Many of us have been taught to deny failure. Many of us react to failure and self-defeating ways. However it is a requirement for business and entrepreneurship.
Work Lesson Earned: However, doing work lessons earned and applying them requires a mental and behavioral shift that frankly is difficult. It takes a certain talent to embrace and even acknowledge failure. In some cultures, failure is not an option.