Everyone Experiences Setbacks

Well if you needed proof that everyone makes mistakes or experiences setbacks, it occurred recently (July 29, 2006) when Wal-Mart announced that they were pulling out of Germany. After nearly 10 years, they decided to focus in other areas, and admitted the loss would exceed $ 1 billion, that’s right a billion, US dollars.

This news wouldn’t be important if our society hadn’t developed the habit of condemning people for making mistakes.

Before you think I have totally lost my mind, let me reassure you that I am not referring to criminal behavior.

No, what I would like to highlight is the tendency to punish people in business when they suffer a setback. While I like to attempt perfection in my efforts, I realize that I may never accomplish it.

We learn from our mistakes, and some of the greatest accomplishments of mankind, have been made by people who failed in their earlier efforts.

Thomas Edison did not invent the electric light bulb, or any other of his many inventions on the first try. In fact, it took him hundreds of failures to determine the proper combination of materials to create a successful bulb. Did he look on the unsuccessful attempts as failures? No, he viewed them as successfully finding ways not to accomplish that goal. His attitude, and persistence in the achievement of inventing solutions to improve lives are what made him successful.

If we don’t give a person another opportunity to produce after a setback, there will be a significant price to pay for the company and the individual. When we chastise someone in business for a failure, it motivates that person to minimize his or her efforts to the point of avoiding the risk of failure in the future. It stunts the individual’s growth, which in turn penalizes the success of the business.

In baseball, if you haven’t ever struck out, it means that you haven’t batted enough times. Likewise, in business, if you haven’t experienced a setback, you haven’t taken or been given an opportunity to grow outside of your comfort zone.

The big question is whether the cost of the setback is turned into an investment by learning the essential lessons from it, and turning them into future successes.

In the 1980’s, I was involved through the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) in a charity golf tournament in Austin, Texas. Originally, it was dedicated to raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Based on the premise of recruiting high-profile players from the National Football League (NFL), everyone had high hopes of a successful event and a significant donation.

The first year resulted in a large disappointment, and a loss of $ 22,000. Several members of the Jaycee board had to personally co-sign the bank note to repay the lost funds.

When the board met to plan the next Jaycee year, the issue of hosting a second golf tournament created a fissure in the organization that almost split it into, which would have dealt it a deathblow.

By the slimmest of margins, the board voted to have another tournament, and dedicated itself to repaying the debt and making a positive charitable donation.

The results the following year bore out the faith and confidence of the board. The debt was repaid and $ 11,000 was donated to MDA.

More importantly, the tournament is now over 25 years old, and more than a million dollars has been donated to various charities.

What would have happened if the initial failure had not been viewed as an opportunity for growth and future success? The loss to the charities, and many people involved in the project over the years would be incalculable.

Just because a failure occurred doesn’t mean someone’s head has to roll. If the individual was valued before the setback, and if there aren’t additional factors that contributed to it, then he or she should be encouraged to learn the lessons that the activity revealed.

Who knows, like Edison, they may turn defeat into triumph. Then the cost of the failure will indeed be a small investment in comparison to the ultimate gain achieved.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle