What is failure? It is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day. They get repeated because people don’t think it matters.
When you hear about a business closing down it appears to be one big event. It is a big event for that day but the reality is that what caused it to close down had been going on for a long time. Just look at Montgomery Ward or Steak and Ale as examples of errors in judgment that were repeated every day over a period of time. They failed for years before it became official.
You may ask, “How come failure is not recognized sooner?” That’s a good question. Failure is not as obvious as it may seem. It can be like the fog that creeps in on little cat feet. What worked for years in a company may gradually not work as well. But people hold onto the hope that the old ways will work. Then, all of a sudden like the fog, you are in the middle of it and can see no way out.
The fact is that we are resistant to change. The first step to failure is in our thinking. We refuse to change the way we see things. We get comfortable with the status quo and how things were in the past and hope that somehow things will work out.
But, they never do, if we don’t change. Why? Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.
And there is only one way to lessen the likelihood of failure and increase the odds of success. We must not only embrace change. Even better we must be the change. With a strong personal philosophy in favor of change we increase the odds of success and weaken the grip of failure.
