The Key to Succeeding in The New Business Landscape of The Future (Part 2 of 2)

As I mentioned in last week's article, the business environment of every industry is changing and only the reasonably unreasonable executives, managers, and business leaders will be able to survive in the end.

As a quick review, we talked last week about how to start securing the leading position in your industry by, first, starting to think differently than that of the orthodox, traditional way you and your competitors have been doing business up to this point. I shared a quote by Albert Einstein that read, "We cannot solve problems with the same thinking we used to create them." In short, all new discoveries and breakthroughs start with a fresh new perspective and way of thinking.

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Secondly, we talked about learning to experiment with new ideas, new marketing strategies, and with new operating procedures early. That means building up the courage to do so, even though they may seem extreme or downright out of the norm. In fact, they are suppose to be abnormal. They're supposed to be strange.

Moreover, the thing that is important to understand is that these "experiments" are not meant to be successful right out of the gate. If they are, great. But if they're not, that's great too. In fact, in this week's article, you'll find out exactly why failure is just as beneficial as success.

That brings us to the next three steps or principles to bear in mind when entering into the new business landscape of the future.

Create and Nurture Your Safety?Net

Now, even though I mentioned in our last article that waiting is not productive when it comes to being able to keep up with the demanding changes that are happening throughout this new business landscape, I will say this…?

If your organization is still lagging behind and hasn’t started thinking differently, or taking the initiative to experiment early, the chances of you and your organization having a “safety net” is probably slim to none. And that means it is going to take some time for you to establish a safety net of supporters that are there for you and believe in what you are trying to accomplish.?

A safety net is essentially a group of information and resource supporters who have bought into your new product idea or new industry operating procedural innovation -- at least to a certain extent -- and will provide you with the necessary information and resources (typically financial resources) that you'll need to get your ideas off the ground while you are still working your way through the experimental stages.?

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For example, many technological advances have presented themselves throughout the last decade, and have, made a variety of new tools available for testing new ideas in a low-cost way while at the same time reducing risk.?

For instance, you can run an A/B test for a new website, e-commerce store, or copy for an online sales letter in a matter of hours, or you can use a crowdfunding website like gofundme.com to gain financial support for a pilot project, or you can use a crowd-sourcing site to gain initial feedback on a new product idea.?

Now, this essentially is “beta” talk for getting your feet wet within the legit market, but with large organizations, this may not be the only method of experimentation and market information gathering. In other words, these types of organizations will typically focus on building their "safety net" within their organization, which means putting together a group of information and resource supports internally.?

We’re talking, initially, a small fit group of front-line managers and department heads that may have not bought into your vision and ideas fully, but are on the fence, and are willing to support your efforts by providing information and minimum financial resources. These individuals will provide you with the feedback you need to help you correct your course.?

“As you become more successful, and you build greater access to resources and networks beyond your formal control, your license to operate expands.” — Julian Birkinshaw and Jonas Ridderstrale, Fast/Forward

Seize Every Learning Opportunity

In the new business landscape of the future, the “big” opportunity is rarely ever clear-cut. However, being able to notice opportunities, and the speed at which you take advantage of those opportunities, will always be vitally important.?

I’ve always said that there’s a fine line between faith and stupid. I’m all for taking leaps of faith, but before I take any leap, I would want to make sure I’m leaping off of something solid and built on a firm foundation.?

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You see, when it comes to becoming a reasonably unreasonable business leader of the future, it is unwise to take a leap of faith with your ideas and throw them out into the marketplace without experimenting with them first. Getting your feet wet, if you will.?

A wiser strategy would be to stay under the radar as much as possible while taking the time to gather more information, gain confidence in your ideas, and develop the ability to manage your finances while learning how to resource them wisely.?

In fact, the Bible tells us, “ He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). In other words, if you can show yourself capable and successful of managing little you will have proven yourself capable of managing more.?

When you implement this “wise” strategy (experimenting and developing your ideas and improving your ability to manage resources effectively internally), before rolling out your ideas into the actual market, what external shareholders see is a borderline miracle happening right before their eyes.?

“At some point, though, you have no choice but to get above the radar, but you have to be very deliberate about that.” — Jordan?Choen

However, you know the truth. You know that what those external shareholders see is actually something that has been in the works for several weeks, months, or even years. It might appear miraculous to them, but to you, it is as practical as any other initiative your company has implemented in the past.?

Time For Reflection: Don't Fear Your Failures, For Your Failures Possess Successes?

The final point is something that you’ve probably heard time and time again, and that is the importance of reflection. I’m talking about carving out time to make sense of the actions you’ve taken during experimentation, the data and feedback you’ve received from testing, the problems that need solutions, as well as to seek council from colleagues, friends, or even professional acquaintances — those that you trust.?

Now, with all that said, consider this: It is Thomas Edison who is noted for saying the following quotes: “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Or, “I didn’t fail 10,000 times. The light-bulb was an invention with 10,000 steps.”?

You see, Thomas Edison developed a keen sense of self-awareness about his ideas and how to bring his ideas into reality that the vast majority of us have “failed” to develop. We all have this capability, but we fail to improve the skill.?

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What this means in terms of becoming a reasonably unreasonable business leader of the future is that if you find that one of your ideas “fails” or falls short during your initial experimentation stage, you should never write them off as being bad ideas and never look at them again. Instead, I suggest putting them aside as ideas that are still in the works.?

You see, circumstances are destined to change. For instance, new technologies will inevitably present themselves, and the state of the economy is always up in the air. In other words, just because something didn’t work today doesn’t mean it won’t work tomorrow.?

Moreover, consider what the critics told the Wright Brothers when they presented their first airplane prototype. I may have these numbers wrong... but what happened was the Wright Brothers were able to get the first airplane they ever made 30 inches off the ground and keep it there for six minutes.?

What the critics told them was, “How does it feel to have failed? You only were able to get your airplane off the ground 30 inches and only kept it up in the air for six minutes.” However, where the critics were trying to appear “smart”, what they ended up doing was displaying their ignorants.?

You see, what they overlooked was the very fact that something that had never been done before had been accomplished. The Wright Brothers were able to turn their fantasy of air travel into a theory (based on mathematical and scientific calculations — experimentation), and then eventually transform that theory into a fact (seizing the opportunity) by giving the following response:?

“ We didn’t fail. We found a way to get an airplane 30 inches of the ground and keep in the air for six minutes. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to get it 30,000 feet in the air and keep there for six hours.” — The Wright?Brothers

To that end, understand this: There are no failures or mistakes in the business landscape of the future. Just an ocean of learning opportunities. The only failure is not trying. Or to not seize the learning opportunities of innovation and collaboration. The successes of your “failures” are in getting back up and not staying down.?

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Therefore, this week, I challenge you to consider acting on the following action steps.

Action Steps and Take Aways:

To begin securing the lead position in your industry, here’s what you need to do.

1) Create and nurture your safety net.?If we were to use the Matrix analogy again, consider this... Remember the virtual simulation of Neo trying to jump from one rooftop to another, and failing to do so by falling all the way down to the concrete below? If you can remember, the concrete below ended up becoming like rubber (a safety net, if you will), therefore, not allowing him to be hurt.

Well, his support system was that of Morpheus and Trinity. That little experiment of Neo jumping from one rooftop to another didn't work the first time, but because he had such a strong support system, he was able to give it another try and learn how to accomplish such a feat. If you were to take away the support system, do you think he would have even given the jump a second attempt? I don't know...

2) Seize every learning opportunity.?In other words, be quick to implement your new ideas internally first, before rolling them out into the actual market. This way you can see how well your new ideas will be received, and make tweaks where necessary before presenting them to the marketplace.

This way, when you roll these new ideas out, internally first, they become normal practice, but externally, they appear as near miraculous to outside shareholders.

3) Fear not your failures, for your failures possess successes.?Lastly... now, this ties in with thinking differently... it's human nature to be afraid of failure, which is why it is going to take a shift in your thinking to begin to realize that failure is nothing to be afraid of. Consider the responses of Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers when they were questioned or critiqued about their so-called "failures."

In short, every failure is a learning opportunity. Therefore, shift your thinking from seeing failure as something to dread, and instead, view it as a learning opportunity to improve your ideas and make them that much better.

Now Over to?You…

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To learn more about business and entrepreneurship, and marketing in this new business landscape, connect with me on?LinkedIn .

Until next time,

Be Great, Nothing Else Pays!