Not right, not wrong

There are different ways to respond when a business idea fails. There’s a big difference between saying “We were wrong” and abandoning the idea, and saying “We didn’t quite get it right” and modifying your business strategy to make it work.

When we developed the Internet UNMASKED!! events, we did so on the basis that we had run very successful training events throughout the country before, on a half-day, no-charge model. Moving to a full day and paid model didn’t work as well as we’d hoped. Instead of throwing in the towel, and packing a sad over it, we pushed through, tweaked the offering and just got smarter.

In my early days in business I would tend to turn away from something that I’d lost money in. I would “pack a sad”, get all down and depressed, withdraw into a pool of self-pity, and then start again with something else. Now I try to get smarter, and it’s a better way to tackle a problem.

The underlying thinking behind the first model is that we were wrong (negative) but the basis for the second model is that we didn’t quite get it right yet (positive). This is way more than just attitude. It goes to the core of what we believe in.

A business vision is born when we see a business opportunity, and believe in our ability to take advantage of it. A business failure approached negatively destroys us as visionaries and entrepreneurs, because we allow it to affect the vision. A business failure approached as “something that needs tweaking to get it right” doesn’t undermine the vision itself, and it’s a lot less hard on the visionary too. If we really believe in the business vision, we should stick with it, even if it needs a tweak or two to get right.

I’ve taken a lot of time over the last few years to integrate my faith into a business setting. It’s not that I have never done this before. Nor is it that I sit around waiting for a voice from the clouds every time I make a decision. It’s more that I’ve been more conscious that our Creator actually cares about what we do, day by day.

Years ago at one of the early Promise Keepers conferences (the one they held here on the Shore actually), I came away with the clear impression that I should be doing this more. If someone had asked me to be specific about it, I would have said that God was saying to me, “Involve Me in all aspects of your business”.

Radical!

Hey, this doesn’t mean that I can’t do anything wrong and make a killing because I’ve got God on my side. He’s not some sugar-daddy in the sky that dishes out a perfect score just because I try to do the right thing. Rather it is that I seek His wisdom and blessing as I go about business things.

The Bible has a lot to say about picking yourself up after a failure and doing things right the second time. There’s virtually nobody of note in Scripture that didn’t fall at some stage. Peter (my mate most favouritist dude) got it all wrong big time, but had a second chance and got it right when he became the first real preacher. David screwed up with Bathsheba. (Hmm . . . maybe that was a rather too accurate description of the event). He got it right eventually and went on to become a mighty man of God. Elisha totally totally dropped the ball after he had sorted out that wild woman Jezebel and all her hangers-on, but he recovered and went on to complete the task.

One of the most spectacular oops moments in scripture was when Jonah headed in the exact opposite direction to that which the Lord called Him. After getting called to preach to Ninevah (due East, if my geography is right), Jonah promptly headed off to Tarsus (some hundreds of miles due West).

Ouch!

After having a “whale of a time” heading West, he finally got the picture, tweaked his strategy and got the job done. Here’s what the Good Book says about Jonah’s “tipping point”.

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
Jonah 2:1,2

and then

Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.
Jonah 3:3

And he got the job done, achieving the objective. I would call this slight realignment of Jonah’s vision a positive development.

Apart from the fact that it’s a lot wiser to get on the same page with God, the point I get from failing to achieve is that when we give up, we lose. When we push on, and find another way, the vision is honoured, we grow and learn and we have a good chance of getting there the second time.

This sounds mighty like the VICTUS IN AMBITUS way to me.