by Kuty Shalev
You can’t win them all — especially in the startup world.
A startup’s mission, after all, is to tackle unsolved problems, so a degree of trial and error is unavoidable. Besides, mistakes are a good thing.
Think about it: You never hear about companies that coast by. Why? Because on the road to a successful business model, you have to experiment, have everything blow up in your face, adapt, and try again. It’s the difference between running a Silicon Valley powerhouse and a mediocre business that eventually fizzles out unnoticed.
Adjust Your Lens
Seeing your own failures through a positive lens, however, is easier said than done. Indeed, the human brain reacts to personal and professional failure similarly to the way it reacts to the passing of a loved one. It needs time to grieve and process what happened before it can move on.
And just like with any loss, there are stages of the grieving process.
First, there’s anger. Your team might start pointing fingers, trying to place blame. Then, there’s disappointment, which can easily squash any motivation to restart. Then, there’s denial. You might want to cling on to and salvage your loss, but honestly, the sooner you admit the project is doomed, the sooner you can start something better.
The trick is not letting mistakes consume you and your team. Instead, use them to construct your business’s roadmap. Plan where you want to go and how you can get there. You may run into a few dead ends, but by adjusting your route, staying positive, and starting over, you get closer to your goal.
Begin Again
By dealing with these stages in positive ways, you can help your team (and yourself) turn failure into an opportunity, recycle the good ideas, ditch the bad, and move forward with a new perspective. Handling the process, however, requires some finesse.
Here are three vital things to avoid doing in the event of a business failure:
- Panic. Panic leads to rash decisions like firing your entire team or throwing the scanner out of the window. Without properly assessing the damage, you’re probably overlooking the positives, so consider your financial state and your company’s future before you act.
- Force everyone to move on before they’re ready. Allow your team some sulking time; it’s an important part of the healing process.
- Cut off team communication. Leaders are made (and broken) by how they handle failure. Don’t disappear after defeat. Instead, be honest about the disappointment and take the initiative to forge ahead.
Here are three things you should do to motivate your team to strive for success:
- Be honest. Let your team know the score. If the project is a bust and the future is ambiguous, tell them. Don’t leave room for misunderstanding.
- Hold a meeting. After the tears have dried and the team is ready to move on, get together and talk about what went wrong. However painful it may be, make a list of everything that contributed to the failure. Keep the environment open and judgment-free.
- Get creative. Here’s the good part. Once the healing is done and you’ve talked everything out, it’s time to get busy making plans for the future.
The knowledge that failure is an option is liberating. It makes you more resourceful and willing to try new things and take bigger risks. And let’s face it: We love the risk and creativity inherent in entrepreneurship. At the end of the day, success in the startup world doesn’t mean covering your ears when you hear the F-word, but toasting the next adventure.
Kuty Shalev is the founder of Clevertech, a New York City-based firm that designs, develops, and deploys strategic software for businesses that want to transform themselves using the power of the web. With a background that includes a Big 4 accounting firm and an MBA from Columbia Business School, Kuty is able to provide a critical business foundation for his clients’ technology ambitions. He partners with them, bridging the gap between business and technology by acting as their product development and technology liaison.
Photo Credits
Nathan O’Nions | Courtesy of Author
