One of the best ways to learn anything is through initial mistakes. Iteration is the key. These two concepts are fortunes if we use them well.
Mistakes are the errors we make when we are performing a task. We are not talking about deliberate mistakes. The focus here are those errors that we encounter when we are trying to produce value.
Iteration is repetition. Repetition leads to mastery. The greatest minds of all time are sold to specific routines where they do the same things over and over till, they master the ropes. They often are not in a hurry.
Like Lincoln said about preparation through the sharpening of an axe, they spend more time sharpening the axe to fell a tree than the actual tree felling itself. The more hours spent on sharpening the tool can be likened to the process of iteration.
Those mistakes we make that we do not learn from make us something less than average or mediocre minds, but we may not put a blanket on this thought.
If we have the right attitude to learn and not quit, we can outperform the genius of intelligence who is too much in a hurry to manifest a thing that he can get easily frustrated, if he does not succeed at the first attempt.
That attitude could be likened to a self-seeking one because this person may not be thinking more about the value of what he or she is trying to manifest. The drive may be for mere personal gains, not general and for posterity.
If the “insane” drive is powered by the thought of benefit to others, then tenacity and resilience should be the watchwords. Persistence will win against all odds.
One great mind whose name fits these two concepts is the founder of General Electric, one of the longest surviving companies of the present era spanning more than a century old.
Thomas Alva Edison, in inventing the light bulb, was quoted as saying that he did not fail a thousand times, but merely found a thousand and one ways to get it done. What a mind!
Despite what we may want to label mistakes, it seems more like great lessons in iteration through persistence and the embracing of the awesome treasure hidden in mistakes.
Iteration is the strength of persistence. You keep doing something because you believe strongly in it. For you, that thing holds the key to unlocking prosperity for a large portion of humanity.
Henry Ford persisted in the idea of the V8 Engine at a time when his engineers did not believe in the possibility of same. He insisted on it. They must have failed many times, but he ensured that they stayed with it, and they eventually achieved the aim. The idea became innovation.
Today, we are sold to the culture of wanting it right now and so, quick-fixes seem to be more an ally to us than otherwise. With a “quick-fix” and “right-now” mentality, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to stay with a concept repeatedly in the face of embarrassing failure.
Great minds with great visions cherish mistakes and they see mistakes as great milestones as they navigate a learning curve. With each mistake, fresh lessons are learned and the change that is about to happen will endure because of the adversities.
Wisdom is truly born in adversity. Great minds embrace mistakes. These mistakes lead them to iterate. Iteration brings perfection. And those who were a part of the process are better positioned to produce leaders in their mould because they are an embodiment of the specific value.
They become a model of same. What other way is there to secure the art of leadership?
The benefit of a mistake is that it keeps you sane in victory. Oftentimes, it’s more difficult to manage success than to achieve it because where enough experience was not earned through mistakes and iteration during the process of manifestation, adequate practical management lessons are not learned.
With enough learned from mistakes and iteration, we have been equipped with virtues and values to make us great managers of success.
Then we can stay up for long and build enduring legacies through the mentorship of others and a succession pipeline that will endure for a long time.
