Week 8

Failing Fast, Often, Cheap

Week 8! Can you believe it? This week we learned about failing fast, failing often and cheaply. This was sales week! And we kinda blew it. We ordered stickers to sell, and they never came. (Way to put failure in action). So, the leader of our team stepped up to the plate and offered his services as a professional photographer to those who would give a mere $10 donation to the cause of helping entrepreneurs in third world countries get their ideas started.

The first thing I learned about this experience is always have a backup plan. Second is, if you don’t have one make sure you have an inventive team. Third, have a good team there is nothing that can substitute for a team that works well together and is willing to work hard getting their hands dirty. I’ll be honest there are some people on our team who don’t quite pull the weight that they could. If you’re going to be working with these people on a daily basis be sure you like them. Our team leader is a very personable person, who is always excited about life. He gets us pumped up to go get the job done and is always happy to see you. He is good at making us feel like we are a valued part of the team. This is so important when it comes to having a good team, there are to many annoying, prideful, arrogant people out there already, don’t get them on your team and be sure as heck not to be one.

Going back to failure, we talked in class about what gets people excited, passionate and lights them up. Most of those things lead back to adversity and hardship. When people talk about the best times in their life, their favorite things they did as kids, they normally have to do with that hard professor they could never please, or the mountain they had to climb. Opposition pushes us to new levels we never thought we would be able to climb to. I had a thought during class, that when we are going through those hard times, we never say I love this. Those times we are hiking the mountains in the snow and rain, and we are hecka cold, tired and hungry, we never say, “this is the best! I’m gonna do this again.” No, we say, “we are never doing this again.” But what I’ve found is that at the end of the trip, a few days later I always find myself saying that I wish I was back on that trail, that I want to do it again next year, or simply just remembering the trip and the good times.

I think that is kind of how life is, it is hard, and we fail, but after the failure we realize that it has lifted us to new heights, and that it wasn’t quite as bad as we had thought it was in the moment. I took a lot of notes this week in class. But I won’t bore you any longer and will simply say, remember that sometimes you can be wrong. Remember to quit the right stuff, and stick to the right stuff. Never allow the negatives of the world, mistakes, critics, disasters or anything else get you down. Your better than that, just stick to what you know is the best way for you to live your life.

A question to think on;

Know your limits, if worst comes to worse can you survive?