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Philosophical soup – brilliant! My soup certainly has challenged me and I have had to go against some seriously ingrained “life outlooks” in order to start my business. Particularly after giving up working in big business combined with decent salaries and stability. Thank goodness I did – much more content now! Having a business partner helped with this as he has different soup so we drive each other along!

Hi Elli,

I found this and the previous article very interesting, especially the discussion around failure or rather our perception of failure. We put so much emphasis on physical and financial preparation for setting up a business and yet our psychological preparation is as important, if not more so.

I gave a talk to a group of Transition Year students this week about creativity and problem solving, looking at how our ability to solve problems depends entirely on how we view the problem itself. If we see difficulty, we’ll experience difficulty – if we see opportunity, we’ll experience opportunity.

It all comes back to mind-set and the ability to see the possibilities even in the things that don’t go exactly how we would choose – for example: ‘So I didn’t get the job but being called for interview shows my CV works and I have gained experience of discussing my work / business – now I have to focus on improving delivery in the interview situation.’ The classic example of this is Thomas Edison designing the first commercial lightbulb, in his words – ‘I haven’t failed – I just found 1,000 ways not to do it.’

I’m not entirely sure where it comes from but I’ve both experienced and observed the huge pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect – instantly! People don’t want to try new things in case they are confronted with ‘failure’ or ridicule and yet the willingness to try and keep trying is exactly how we become accomplished – as in the Malcolm Gladwell book, ‘Outliers’, Fred mentioned in the previous post.

And this is at a societal level too – everyone wants the economy fixed with one big idea that works first time, when what we need is a willingness to work together and try any number of solutions for as long as it takes. Then to keep on working together to keep everything working!

I guess the hardest part is bringing those negative messages to the surface so we can be aware of how they sabotage our plans and reduce their impact. Perhaps it has to do with the emotional value we place on success?

Barney,

You are a living example of this post! Good on you for not drowning in your soup! You also point out how important it is to have someone who cares enough to drive you along. Besides, a business partner has a stake in your success and vice versa!

Angela,

I totally agree! Perhaps we give too much weight to failure and success which causes us to forget that there is not single big idea that will resolve all of the issues.

It’s also challenging to stay in a mindset of possibility when bills are due, there aren’t enough customers, and the media goes on and on about how dreadful everything is. It’s important to acknowledge that nearly everyone is having a rough go at it right now. No rose-coloured glasses here!Still, reframing circumstances to include that opportunities exist is a much more hopeful and motivating perspective.

The messages in the background sometimes serve as a warning but more often are an hindrance. The messages are manifestations of our fears. That’s not necessarily a bad or good thing. We have a choice to listen and follow or reject them. While developing the skills to listen or reject takes practice, it allows you to open up for your thinking for alternatives.

As for the thought revolution, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Authenticity is the antithesis of complexity. Good comes from how we use the opportunity.

One very important aspect for small businesses is ~ “If you do not ask, you might not get” Certainly it is not a given, that when you bill a client with “30 days Credit” stamped on the invoice, that the money just magically appears in your bank account in 31 days.nnSmall businesses must be VERY pro-active in getting paid, ever before they consider hiring in the heavies, but once every channel has been used, it is imperative to hire the right people – thanks for sharing some great tips there Dave.