To Grow, Failure Has to Be An Option

Dec 21

This year I was able to attend INBOUND in Boston.

INBOUND is a community that celebrates the human side of business. It’s a group of people who are passionate about marketing and delighting customers, and connecting with others who have that same ambition.

This year’s conference— which has been called the “biggest conference in marketing”—featured no shortage of inspiration and learning about how to grow your company…better.

A few of the highlights: Deepak Chopra, Chris O’Donnell, Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, Esther Perel, Alex Rodriguez, Lena Waithe, Shonda Rhimes, David Hooker, Antoine Dupont, Michaela Alexis, Janet Murray, Paul Roetzer…the list doesn’t end there.

Hands-down the best conference I’ve attended to date, #INBOUND18 was jam-packed with lessons, strategies, tactics, and things I can’t wait to test and apply.

Here is was one of my major takeaways from #INBOUND18.

1. Failure Has to Be an Option For You to Grow

Beth Comstock is the kind of leader you want to work for. As the first woman Vice Chair at GE, she’s one of the leaders that helped GE begin to transform into a more adaptable, 21st century digital organization.

She herself is an agent of change, and today she helps other people become agents of change. “If you’re an agent of change, you must lead the way. Tell your story,” she said.

In Beth’s mind, to be competitive, you have to strive to have a new mindset: one that anticipates the future, spots trends early, and nurtures new ideas and methods for growth. To do so, we have to embrace some of the things that not all businesses necessarily hold in high regard: experimentation and imagination.

We can all get better at failing, better at dealing with ambiguity, and better at dealing with change. “It takes courage to act on instinct and not wait for data,” said Beth.

“If failure isn’t an option, then neither is success,” she added.

It’s not a cliché the way Beth presents it; rather, this concept is actually a challenge we can all take on when it comes to getting ideas off the ground.

Some other pieces of advice related to this notion:

Protect early ideas and the people who nurture them.
Avoid hanging on to the way we’ve always done things
Strive to avoid the imagination gap (where opportunities never have the chance to come to fruition).
When you hear “no,” just realize it’s a “not yet.”
The lessons we get from failures is what will open up the path to success.
Get past the “gatekeeper”—the ones that are afraid of progress and fight against disruption and creativity.

Check back in for other insights from the conference.