How many times are we too conservative? We have even tempered or uneducated advice thrown our way when crucial business decisions need to be made?
Seth Godin wrote that “If you make all your decisions based on opportunity cost and the fear of failure, you’re almost certain to fail. Safe really is risky.”
There is a certain element of that quote that’s true. And it is something we see everyday.
Big companies would rather buy innovation. They wait for the garage based startups to create the next big thing. The next piece to their puzzle.
Then they buy them.. Or partner with them. But the Google’s and Microsoft’s of the world don’t create their own puzzle pieces!
I am quickly growing fond of a quote I read, “An expert is the person that has made every mistake possible in a very distinct field.”
But to traditional thinkers, mistakes imply failure.
That is absolutely not the case. To me, mistakes show that a person or an organization is combing the edge. That indistinct place between two disciplines or fields that has been unexplored.
That is the place where mistakes happen. But that is also the area that big thoughts and innovation occur.
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You know… playing it safe can be risky… because playing it safe isn’t playing to win. And you can’t lose something if you don’t already have it. So, yeah, this post was cool. A great little reminder of the paradoxes of business.
You are bang on when you say “indistinct place between the two disciplines….thoughts and innovations occur” – Truly great insight. Great post.
Garry – Thank you.. I love Seth Godin’s site because so much of it is not about what he says, but how you think!
Krishna – I definitely appreciate it! I love thinking in that space, the edge. I really feel that most of the greatest innovations still to come will be gathered from that area..