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Failure is Not an Option | Print |
Seth Godin has a new book coming out called "The Dip" (see his blog about it here).

Today's post talks about quitting.
Here are his "Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World"

* You run out of time (and quit).
* You run out of money (and quit).
* You get scared (and quit).
* You’re not serious about it (and quit).
* You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit).
* You focus on the short term instead of the long (and quit when the short term gets too hard).
* You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent).

Seth postulates that at least for the first 6, quitting might be an option... if you just don't have the stuff to make it happen.

It's about knowing yourself, your team, your company well enough t be honest. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan call it "confronting reality" (buy the book... it's worth it). It's the follow-up book to their bestseller "Execution" (which is their better book).

Tom Peters also notes that "execution" has become a serious buzz-word in the field of leadership and executive management. He even recommended "Execution" as the #1 book for a new CEO to read in 2005.

Execution is about people, strategy and operations. It's about listening, leading, communicating and doing.

So can you be the best in the world at something? Possibly. Let's face it. There is only one champion for any given category. Can you execute to your strengths, build a team that is smarter than you, focus on the best thing, and get it done? Absolutely.

Jack Welch eventually abandoned the "#1 or #2" strategy at G.E. Instead, he reshaped and redefined the market. He looked for ways to broaden the market to give new strategic insight to the products and services G.E. was offering. Do you need to redefine your market?

Failure is not an option. Though quitting something that's merely good might be. Whatever the options, pick the one that is the best and go after it with everything you have.
 
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