My Best Mistake

 Is this compatible with my previous blog on Regrets?  On one hand this is about how people have overcome an obstacle/mistake to gain further success and claim they don't regret and in fact are glad for the obstacles.  On the other hand I would suggest they each handled a setback that most would regret in hindsight by dealing with it in a better manner.  Daniel Pink would tell you that problems offer opportunities.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/the-power-of-regret.html

The world of sports reveals many mistakes, particularly for a manager who has to decide who to draft, and who to play.  One example was Scotty Bowman, considered to be one of the best hockey brains made a mistake that could have ended his career before it got launched.  After an injury cut his hockey playing days short he had been given an opportunity to work with Sam Pollock.  One of his tasks had been to notify players that they didn't make the cut.  When a young Serge Savard showed up expecting accommodation, a few months after it was embarrassing and costly as he should have been notified.  It is hard to pinpoint who really made the mistake, but Scotty's job was on the line.  Before too long the mistake was  smoothed over and Serge went on to be a Montreal top player and Scotty went on to become one of the top hockey coaches of all time.

 Politics offers a lot of opportunities for mistakes.  It is very easy to offend someone and if you offend the wrong one it can be disastrous.  Bill Maher and the Dixie Chicks suffered for being outspoken.

Shortly after the 9/11 attack, a guest on Bill's show, Dinesh D'Souza made a statement that the attackers were not cowards.  Bill agreed , "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away.  That's cowardly.  Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."  Sponsors backed out and critics led a charge that resulted in cancellation and blocked Bill's employment.  Eventually he returned to television as many did respect his honesty and he was able to maintain a provocative stance.

Steve Jobs is one of the most interesting characters discussed.  For me some new information was provided or maybe it was a reminder.   His birth mother requested her son be adopted by two college graduates, but initial effort failed and she had to be persuaded to accept two parents who had dropped out of high school, but turned out to be helpful for an innovator.  As usual it is difficult to read about Jobs without describing him as an "asshole," but he is deemed to have offsetting qualities.  After setting up Apple and proving his genius he offended board members so much that they forced him out of his own company.  Twelve years later he returned and helped launch Apple into its current maga status.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/05/the-no-asshole-rule.html

Mario Puzo is best known for "The Godfather." (1972), but the main reason he wrote it was to pay off gambling debts.  Gambling would be a big mistake that just keep putting him in a deeper hole.  He had written two books that received good reviews and was able to eke out a living with magazine articles and editing.  He wanted to be taken as a serious writer and resisted turning an outline (presented to get some needed cash) into an actual book.  With his back against the wall he did do the book, but along the way made another mistake--he accepted a low offer for the movie rights.  Partly in compensation he was offered to write the movie script which won him his first of two Oscars. 

Farmer's Almanac had one secret formula and one incredible fluke (a fortuitous mistake).  A brother in law of mine used to quote their weather predictions, one of which was a little off.  Going back to the founder Robert B. Thomas felt he needed a weather forecast for his annual reference guide.  Surprisingly he was able learn about Galileo's observation about sun spots that affected our global weather in an 11 year cycle.  That  worked pretty good, but one year 1816, the owner had been ill and unable to write the forecast.  When pressed he joked there would be snow in July.  It was recognized as a mistake, but it was too late to destroy all the printed copies.  A massive volcanic eruption in the Dutch East Indies  and its dust circled the earth lowering temperatures which resulted in July snow in the United States.  This helped to consolidate the reputation for the Farmer's Almanac.

Other covered notable celebrities that overcame mistakes include Billy Joel, Brian Williams, Steve Spielberg and Seth MacFarlane.

While many of us wallow in our mistakes and failings others have learned, persisted and overcome them.  Some mistakes are actually innovative and good luck.

START WITH WHY

Simon Sinek had been trying to discover the source of what inspires.  He states that most sales are done through manipulation with such tools as pricing, fear and aspirations.  Manipulation works, but it doesn't inspire.  What he has learned is that people do not buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.  This is the secret to inspiration.

His models include Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Martin Luther King Jr and Herb Kelleher.  They inspired people not because of their manipulations, but because people felt inspired about why they were doing what they chose to do.

Simon improved his understanding when it was explained to him about how the brain works.  The limbic system is innermost and makes decisions without words, in other words based on emotions and feelings.  The Neocortex helps to rationalize decisions and can influence decisions.

Colin Powell makes an important observation in this information overloaded era, "I can make a decision with 30% of the information.  Anything more than 80% is too much information."  Personally I would just be concerned that you pick the right 30%.

Customers aren't always right.  Southwest Airlines  founder Herb Kelleher once said "It is a company's responsibility to look after the employees first.  Happy employees ensure happy customers and happy customers ensure happy shareholders in that order."  By treating employees fairly, trust is developed and loyalty that is transferred to customers and shareholders.

Another example given is with the Education for Employment Foundation, set up by Ron Bruder who is using this organization to develop optimism for opportunities in the Middle East.  Ron felt part of the problem in the Middle East is that too many young people are discouraged from innovating and he has set out to move in the right direction.  Innovation can be a key to jobs.

Getting back to the premise, Simon elaborates with the idea that value is a perception and not a calculation.  People buy brands that give confidence as they understand the compelling why behind them.

With innovative inspirational entrepreneurs an important lesson is that in trying to crack the mass market you need to identify early adopters first.  They are the ones who will understand the why and their enthusiasm and loyalty will carry towards the rest of the market.

An obstacle to continued growth is success.   As long as the leader is still around there is inspiration, but sooner or later they leave and the Why often gets lost to the How and the What.  One example is Walmart whose founder, Sam Walton might be best known for low prices, but in reality his secret was in how he treated his employees.  Other companies have been more successfully in passing on the original drive and some examples have been at Apple and Southwest Airlines.

Simon worked with ad agencies and wondered why some campaigns worked and others didn't although the ingredients seemed essentially the same.  As he came to understand the brain he concluded that too often the What and the How were understood, but not the Why.  Leaders need followers and the best are those who share enthusiasm for the Why.  In conclusion Simon says two things are required for innovative success.  The first is a vision of he world that does not exist.  Equally important is the ability to communicate it.  The vision comes from Why.

You can read more about Simon and his ideas at https://www.startwithwhy.com

Why is an important question, not asked enough, particularly by adults.  Earlier I had hit a similar theme from Amanda Lang http://www.johnfdavidson.com/2013/04/the-power-of-why.html  She felt that curiosity had been knocked out of a lot of people as they were socialized, but that following up Why was the way to innovate.