a great line from the book pricing on purpose by Ronald J Baker, is that the hardest thing about learning something new, is unlearning what you already KNOW.

ain’t that the truth. our belief systems support us and restrict us at the same time.

our greatest strength is often our greatest weakness.

this is very true for a lot of professionals, they sell their knowledge and it is very hard for them to admit, that they don’t have all the answers.

One of my favourite quotes is, “the only thing i know is that I don’t know anything” Socrates.

when I stick to that maxim, life is a lot easier and much less confrontational.

Too often we head down a path and unfortunately when we realise it is the wrong path, our ego generally gets in the road and prevents us from turning back. To admit that I made a mistake or that I am not “Right” is in  our society seen to be a sign of weakness, or alternatively we have been taught that to be not right is the same as failing and for many the loss of face is too much to accept. So they continue down the same path towards ultimate failure. Almost like the old maritime saying, a captain must go down with the ship.

However, that is not really what is required. If people were able to accept that making mistakes was part of learning and growing and that it takes a greater person to admit what they did was not working and change, than to continue blindly down the path of true failure, we would have a more successful and less troubled society.

Making mistakes is part of life – get over yourself – learn the lesson and move on.

If we taught children to walk the way we approached making mistakes and learning as we do later in life, no one would ever be allowed to walk. They would be too scared of falling down and getting back up after a while, so in the end they would quit.

But that is not how we teach children to walk. We encourage often to the point of almost dragging them towards success.

Imagine.

If that was how businesses and schools operated, people would be far more willing to try things; to chase their dreams; to achieve their true potential.

How mighty a world we would live in then.

But that is but a pipe dream whilst we operate in the arena of fear that dominates most workplaces. Don’t make mistakes, do everything the Right way.

In many professional sporting teams, the coaches are now coaching not to lose for fear of losing their jobs, rather than coaching to win.

Such joy then to watch teams like Barcelona (Football) who play with skill, technique and flair. They strive to be their absolute best and in doing so they make the difficult look easy.

Often times in the corporate arena, companies like Google grow out of nothing to achieve the similar type of experience, only to drift into the conservative nature of not losing, watch out there is competition now and we are afraid of what they will do.

In doing so, they often lose what made them great, that sheer abandonment to be the best and enjoy what you do.

So what can you change in your approach that will allow you to achieve more, yet increase your level of enjoyment in the process.

Leave a comment for others to enjoy.

have a great week.

Paul