Josh's Weekly Insights

“The greatest danger in business and life lies not in outright failure but in achieving success without understanding why you were successful in the first place.”

-Jim Collins

Have you ever been successful in something but had no clue why it worked? The danger in that success is that it isn’t consistently replicable unless you understand why it succeeded.

Typically, if something fails it becomes pretty clear why it failed. We allocated resources to the wrong area, we didn’t communicate effectively, etc. However, if something succeeds, that doesn’t mean we made all of the “best” decisions along the way. So then if we try to do it again, we may end up missing the points that made our first attempt successful.

How often do you stop after you accomplish something to reflect back on what made it successful? Do you take the time to analyze what could have made that attempt even better/more successful or do you settle for the success that you have achieved?

Whether a project fails or succeeds is often less relevant than the question “What did I learn from this venture?” There will be many projects that don’t succeed but still add a ton of value if you learn something new and grow your skillset along the way.

Even after you achieve success, stop to ask yourself why you achieved it. This will help you hone your skill sets which will in turn set you up for even more success in the future.

Now get out there and crush your week!