Unintended Consequences: the puzzling fact that the shortest line between two points is often a dead end.
The economist Albert O. Hirschman, who died last December, loved paradoxes. What impressed him was the response to a crisis where "we may be dealing here with a general principle of action." He wrote:
"Creativity always comes as a surprise to us; therefore we can never count on it and we dare not believe in it until it has happened. In other words, we would not consciously engage upon tasks whose success clearly requires that creativity be forthcoming. Hence, the only way in which we can bring our creative resources fully into play is by misjudging the nature of the task, by presenting it to ourselves as more routine, simple, undemanding of genuine creativity than it will turn out to be."
Hirschman believed that people don't seek out challenges; they are "apt to take on and plunge into new tasks because of the erroneously presumed absence of a challenge--because the task looks easier and more manageable than it will turn out to be."
The entrepreneur takes risks but does not see himself as a risktaker, because he operates under the useful delusion that what he's attempting is not risky. Then trapped in mid-stream, people discover the truth--and, because it is too late to turn back, they're forced to finish the job.
Nietzsche's famous maxim, "That which does not destroy me, makes me stronger."
Hirschman said, "This sentence admirably epitomizes several of the histories of economic development projects in recent decades. We are now told, the presence of war-like Indians in North America and the permanent conflict between them and the Anglo-Saxon settlers was a great advantage, because it made necessary methodical, well-planned, and gradual advances toward an interior which always remained in close logistic and cultural contact. with the established communities to the East."
The lesson for entrepreneurs and leaders is: Developing businesses and countries requires more than capital. They need to practice in making difficult economic decisions. Economic progress is the product of successful habits--and there is no better teacher than a little adversity.
Jeremy Adelman: Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman
After working with entrepreneurs for several years now, one major failing keeps surfacing -- too many have a fatal marketing "blind spot".
These entrepreneurs thoroughly understand their technology. They may well be on their way to mastering the engineering and operational issues involved in delivering their product or service. Yet they persist -- often until it is too late -- in believing that the marketing issues are relatively simple -- because everyone will surely love their new product or service as much as they do.
Only after that product or service is "ready" -- or worse, after early sales attempts have bombed -- will someone like me get a call. Of course, at that point most of the money's gone. Sometimes huge amounts! There's neither time nor money to do a competent marketing plan, let alone execute it -- and the venture fails -- needlessly.
In my experience, this marketing "blind spot" is the single most common cause of startup failures -- in fact, I'm starting to believe, more common than all others combined.
The most important piece of advice that I can give entrepreneurs is to get a marketing "reality check" early on -- like at the beginning, before you even know that your product or service will do what you're hoping it will do.
Hire an independent (read: objective) professional to take a look at your intended market.
Is it really there? Can it be penetrated (or developed) and what's likely to be required to do so? This is just a "look." It doesn't have to be an expensive, complicated project. In fact, at this point, it shouldn't be. But it's absolutely certain that it will be much less "expensive" than if it's done downstream.