Taking the problem head on

Learning from Schon on ‘taking problems head on’ made the event for me!

I was very lucky to be playing MC today at one of the fine ‘Condon Forum’ events. It’s an idea think tank and networking event run by ‘Condon Associates Group’ being a Western Sydney based Forensic, Insolvency and Turnaround business.

During the event, Schon Condon (the Principal and Owner) was speaking at the end and was actually talking about the ‘Titanic’ in terms of business lessons. He made lots of points and one great point he was making to the audience was:

– “You must take problems head on”

Where this related to the Titanic was that it is believed that on that fateful night; if the Titanic went straight for the iceberg, there is a great probability it would have survived the cruise back home.

The simple (non engineer view) reason for this is that by charging the iceberg would have done more damage to the front of the ship, BUT it would have stayed afloat. As they tried to avoid it, it caused damage along the side of the ship leading to flooding of its total compartments.

The point being that by trying to avoid lots of pain; it caused them all to fail. Sometimes in business we have to do things that make us look silly, are totally embarrasing, require us admitting mistakes and may even involve us to shred out ego’s in the public space.

I had to do my own version of this several times in my own business. One time a few years ago I had to admit my own errors in working to build someone else’s networking business; only to have it all taken away from me on their own terms (leaving me with years of hard work and nothing to show for it).

It left me red faced, embarrassed – but I admitted it, took it head on and learned from my mistakes. I then was able to discover the very lucrative Business Chambers of Sydney that paved the success that I am lucky to possess today. Basically, by admitting where I stuffed up wasn’t lots of fun; but it allowed me to focus on the future.

My advice and reflecting on Schon’s words of ‘taking problems head on?’ – sometimes you have to admit you have lost. It sucks. No one likes it. But when we do, we can make changes, have another shot and win the next time. The faster we do this the better. It was a powerful lesson and loved it.

Trust these thoughts help, thanks for the read, stay awesome and thank you Condon Associates for the fine lesson!