Fail Forward

“The major difference between achieving people and average people is their perception of and response to failure.”
Failing Forward, John Maxwell

The point is, if you wait until your next idea, your next concept, your next innovative solution is perfected before executing, you could find yourself with a program that is not competitive, an outdated policy, or heaven forbid a portfolio full of inventory property. We need to become comfortable with being 90% complete with our strategy and then, for the other 10%, let the chips fall where they may. You will learn from any errors and have the flexibility to make necessary changes. Chances are, the fears of failure will surely outweigh the reality of the outcome. In fact, someone once told me that I should always run the worst-case scenario in my mind, and if I could live with that, then I will be just fine. Believe it or not, this suggestion will work.

It is easy to follow the pack. I have found myself saying more than once, it would be so easy to mimic what someone else has already figured out. There is some truth to that in part, but parallel to that we need to find a way to make it our own and try something a little different. Personally, I would rather be known as someone who is willing to fail forward a few times versus someone who is afraid to take a risk.