Failure… but in a good way!

On today’s show I’m talking about failure… but in a good way!

Folks - failure is normal. Most of what happens when you take a Brilliant Gamble is failure. It’s just a part of the process of change. And I want to share with you a different way to think about failure and how to incorporate failure in to your business.

Maybe you don’t like the word failure and you’d rather I called it something else. But I want to take the charge out of the word so that it doesn’t have the power it might have in your own mind.

I’m also sharing a bug fix process (very similar to agile mythology for those of you familiar with that) to help you build failure in to the process rather than create, invent, develop, launch and then fail.

Have I said the word failure enough? Get used to it! It’s not as bad as you think.

Here’s the process I talk about on the show -

1. Have the idea. It’s pretty raw at this stage, it’s the stuff you think of at 3am, jot down on a scrap of paper and try to forget about until morning.

2. Refine it JUST ENOUGH to share it for immediate feedback.. Make sure to share it with the right group - a safe place where the feedback has validity.

3. Take the advice you’re given!! You’ve got to be open to feedback at this stage. If the feedback is contradictory go with your gut/experience to decide what to listen to. Remember, sometimes the stuff that’s hardest to hear is the stuff we need to listen to the most.

4. Give yourself a tight deadline. Make the deadline public if you have to in order to hold yourself to account.

5. Do what needs to be done and no more to get your idea/product/website/whatever out there. It’s not going to be perfect. It’s in beta (that's all you committed to when you publicised your deadline) so you’ve given yourself that freedom. If it’s a product offer a beta (to make up for fact it’s not all ready). If it’s your website, make clear this is not the finished product – you’re going to fix the bugs based on feedback from users. DIY it or use a very small team. Don’t waste time and money briefing people and buying in expertise and learn the process yourself so you can do the basics yourself.

6. Be prepared mentally (and contractually) to scrap it or massively fix it if it doesn’t work for people.

7. Go live and get ready for feedback!

8. Refine, tweak, scrap, iterate. Go again!

I mentioned the programme I created this way for my other business, That People Thing. It’s in beta! It’s a presentation skills programme for people who have to speak to audiences as part of their job. You can find it here. Use the discount code TPTBETA2019 to get 50% off.

I believe it’s never too late to live your life on your own terms and do work you love for a living. This is why I have designed a suite of courses to help you get from where you are now to where you deserve to be.

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