I just made (another) mistake... now what ?

In the process of starting a new venture I have made a # of missteps and miscues along the way. In my mind I initially identified two sources or patterns to the mistakes. The first would be my own behaviour / actions and judgement and secondly the behaviour of others that are involved (or not) in the venture. As I explore the cause and effect of these mistakes and their impact I am led to a different conclusion...namely its my own behaviour, actions and judgement that have resulted in the current "things could be going better" status. Fortunately for me I tend not to stay stuck in anyone place for too long. I was offered a wonderful piece of advice very early in my career from a mentor who's mantra when things weren't going great or the top of the hill you were climbing looked particularly steep...

Never say whoa in the mud hole !

Part of my response to get out of the mud hole is to take a step back and figure out how I got here in the first place and how I can avoid the next pitfall

So what has gone so terribly wrong that I'm compelled to analyze, write and share about this experience ???

I have had an up and down week as two prospective investors / strategic partners backed out a project that we had been planning and working on together for six (6) months. That's the #down part. Neither of these people were from my inner circle and they were sourced through my partner. My initial reaction or thought was to project blame on my partner that had brought these two investors to the table. There wasn't much learning or value to be gained from channeling my disappointment (in the outcome) onto my partner so I went a little deeper.

Over the course of exploring this new investor / strategic partner relationship I had been asking myself recently the following question.

If I am looking back at the conception and honeymoon period of this new business relationship at a point three (3) years out in the future, will I be happy with the progress that we've made and will I have been true to myself in terms of evaluating and considering the strengths, weaknesses and more particularly the Unique Abilities (TM) of those around the table ?

The answer to both questions is NO. I would not have been happy with the progress and I would not have been true to my inner compass of working with a team that embraces their own Unique Ability (TM) and that of their team.

Their decision to back away from the table came after a joint meeting between my potential investors / partners and a prospective client. The meeting was not one that I had scheduled and / or one where I was managing / setting the agenda (two mistakes back to back). It went as you might expect where you don't set the meeting and where you did not properly set up or establish expectations with the various parties in terms of desired outcomes. The client didn't like what he was hearing and the partner was fairly focused on the customer response to a message that was not properly communicated. I should have known better. I have been in front of this prospective customer on more than one occasion and proposed on different projects which all met with the same result...deafening silence despite early indications of interest.

While I was initially disappointed in "their" decision to back out of the deal and was frustrated for a brief period of time - like probably less than an hour - every cloud has a silver lining. In my firmly established mindset of #gratitude I concluded the following;

1. I just received the greatest gift - Feedback. In this case it was "we don't believe in your idea / concept and/or you enough to risk writing a cheque". Fair enough.
2. The Feedback came from those capable of "writing the cheque" which lends a great deal of credibility to their message and;
3. I had a fresh foundation from which to seek out new investment partners and had the opportunity to re-set the filter to apply to potential partners

Next question...

How did I end up in this situation in the first place ? If I have a road map and strong self awareness of my own Unique Ability (TM) and place value in understanding and embracing the UA of those around me, how did I end up engaged in a potential business transaction with clients and partners where there was not a Right Fit ?

Answer: I was too focused on a source of easy money and figured (?) I could take a short cut by looking the other way in terms of my core beliefs and inner compass.

Where stuff has gone wrong and/or didn't pan out as I thought, hoped or wished, I can easily find fault in stuff I overlooked and/or that I didn't slow down enough to properly tease it out...and for those that know me it's no surprise to hear that I often act too quickly or impulsively and end up wishing I had gone a different route or made a different choice. I used to beat myself up over this tendency which is described in my Kolbe Profile as an Action Mode known as Quickstart (9) https://www.kolbe.com/kolbe-wisdom/.

Increasingly I am grateful for this action mode because it fast tracks me through the mental obstacle otherwise known a fear and lets me figure stuff out in real-time and learn as I go. While the pace of decisions and actions can result in some carnage along the way, it does uncover stuff quickly and enables me to get to the good stuff (obstacles in the way of my goals / targets) where the real value is created. Solving problems through Ideation is my # 1 strength. The sooner I can get to an informed state to tease out and work through ideas the more value I am creating for myself and those around me.

So now what...

1. I am going to reach out to a network of people (#mytribe) that are closer to me in terms of understanding my strengths (Ideation, Futuristic) and to whom I am closer to in terms of their values and beliefs that in turn support their acceptance and attraction to me and my ideas to source new investors and;
2. I get to specifically address the risk issues presented to me by the customer and see if they can or should be addressed within the business model and tweak if necessary and;
3. Perhaps most importantly, filter my ideas for sourcing new investors through the Impact Filter (TM), to ensure the same mistake is not repeated and that there is alignment with my Unique Ability (TM) and the team that comes alongside to support the execution of the opportunity.

Honourable mention goes to Dan Sullivan and his entire team at #StrategicCoach for supporting the development and nurturing of my mindset as it relates to #growth, #gratitude and the variety of tools (Unique Ability (TM), Impact Filter (TM) and Strategy Circle (TM) that when applied grant access to clarity and meaningful action.

About the Author...

Bob is a serial entrepreneur that is driven by his core strengths of Ideation and Futuristic https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/253676/how-cliftonstrengths-works.aspx and has focused the majority of his working career on supporting the identification and ensuing execution of ideas to help building owners #savemoney. This effort has been directed at reducing their operating expenses with a historical focus on #propertytax and a new emphasis on #water and #waterconservation opportunities. Both is a Founding Partner of www.water-controls.com and recently engaged with www.waterscrooge.com to bring new water conservation capabilities to the Canadian #multiresidential market. Bob can be contacted at [email protected].