I took a few months off from blogging – it is amazing how time passes in startup life. It seems that I measure my business life in months (not quarters) and there is never enough time.
I am reflecting today during abnormally nice weather in Boston, as I get ready to make a trip out west. I am thinking about people that I have known over the years and situations I have experienced. I have had a lot of diversity in experiences and I have seen a lot. However, I know that I am still constantly learning. When you stop learning, you stop living. Also, stop learning and your business skills become non-adaptable because every startup is different like every journey is not the same.
In a not so distant startup, I had a board member tell me the product needs work after we grew a lot in the year. Whenever, someone criticizes, I pay attention. However, I ask questions to understand the validity of the issue. In this case, I asked her/he how she/he knew it needed work and if she/he had tried the product. She/he stated that she/he did not need to use the product because she/he sat on many other boards in many industries and knows what she/he was talking about with product issues. (Sorry about the she/he – I just don’t like to get too specific about people to make a point).
Reflecting on this incident, one thing comes to mind. I feel sorry for her/him because she/he stopped learning a long time ago…
We stop learning for a variety of reasons and here are my top two reasons below:
1. Ego – we begin to believe that we did everything ourselves and we are smarter than almost anyone else. We separate people into classes and put ourselves at the top. This is a really silly reason to stop learning, but it happens. If this is you, you just need someone close to you to be honest and firm. You need to ground yourself in a foundation made of stone and not sand. In this scenario, sand if often money, power and recognition while stone is faith, family and community.
2. Tired – we no longer have a passion for what we are doing which happens from years of wear and tear/ stress. This is understandable, but as in the book, Who moved my Cheese?, you need to find new cheese and move on to something you enjoy. (read the book – it will come in handy some time in your life)
I always have to do a gut check every single day to learn and some days are better than others. I spent some time in the Army going through Ranger School and being a platoon leader in Desert Storm. I had a basic premise that on one day you could be very brave and on the next day you could be a coward. To me, courage is reborn every day. You have to commit. If you don’t commit, your ego may make you relax or your fatigue may get the best of you. Vince Lombardi had a saying that “fatigue makes coward of us all”.
You could also say that ego and fatigue make us bad business people while learning feels like a bright, sunny spring day full of promise.
It is a beautiful, sunny day in Boston.
