One of the lessons business owners learn too late is that it is good to be bad. Being bad at something means you’re trying and when you try and accept being bad you can improve. Last night I watched the Vince Young documentary and his biggest issue was he wasn’t good at being bad. He almost walked out of Texas and he did walkout on the Titans. The documentary framed it as he walked out on a out of touch coach, but he walked out on himself, but that’s a different lesson in going along to get along.
When it comes to mistakes they can be the greatest thing you make. It is why we value risk takers and why our natural loss aversion can actually lead us into taking riskier positions. The problem comes in when we make mistakes that can end us. That is why being bad is so good.
Lots of modern business wisdom is about hiring and outsourcing and getting yourself out of the business. I was thinking about modern CEO’s the other day. It is near impossible to imagine Musk or Bezos putting together a car or delivering a package, but we can all see Dave Thomas, Ray Kroc, or Frank Purdue working in their businesses.
It is good to get your hands dirty every now and then, and the best way to understand a process is to be a part of it. You also don’t have to pay for your own labor. Work at something. See if there is a return, and then hand it off to someone else. Be bad at first and work to a level where you understand it. You still might not be good at it but you will understand it.
It also goes to the idea that ideas themselves are cyclical. I don’t know how business philosophies were decades ago, and the march towards the four hour work week had already started after we started our business. I just know that when I sit and listen to people talk about exits and selling businesses I start to wonder about legacy.
What is it that I want to leave behind in this world? And if that involves me having to be more involved isn’t that better than buying and flipping several businesses in my own lifetime?
Let’s go back to Vince Young for a second. Let’s imagine a scenario where he was open to being bad and learned from mistakes. That he worked with his coaches and focused on the areas where he needed to improve. We saw almost the same story play out in Washington with RGIII. An owner and coach wanting different quarterbacks, a running quarterback that had too big of a personality, and several things beyond either’s control going wrong.
When two rigid systems meet one has to give way. Changing and learning is valuable and embracing being bad can help in lots of instances.
David Huzzard Writes 