Letting Things Die
I have started a lot of projects in the past and many of them either aren’t standing anymore or are owned by other parties. In terms of them becoming huge and garnering me millions of dollars they all would be considered failures, but in terms of walking away and learning something I don’t think I would consider any of them to be a failure. I think that everyone that reads this site has a passion for starting a pet project and I’m sure many of you have done a couple in the past, the problem seems to be that many times we just can’t let go because we don’t want “failures” being associated with us.
Why is it really that hard to let go? I know for me there is always a point where I realize the project isn’t going where I want it to, usually due to the lack of resources I put into it, and I know what it takes to get it back on track. However, I just don’t make that push, but knowing what you can do to make things better makes it harder to let go.
With a success-to-failure ratio like the one I have why even bother starting these pet projects? It’s that whole “if you have an itch, scratch it” kind of thing. My life is about learning and I can’t learn by simply reading and sitting around. I have to learn by doing and that’s what every one of these projects does for me. They teach me new things that I would never have gained by just reading someone else’s observations. It’s not like starting another blog or simple website is going to put me in financial ruin so there really is nothing holding me back.
You may think that your failures become part of your reputation however and if you want to start future projects with partners people may be a bit hesitant to join up with you due to what they know about your past. In this case, hopefully you do have successes on your record that stand head and shoulders above any failures you may have endured. Look at these “failures” and tell me how much they have tarnished the image of the individuals.
- Seth Godin and Squidoo (many would say it is too early to tell but I have to chalk this one up in the failure category)
- Rick Pitino and the Boston Celtics
- Mike Ditka and the New Orleans Saints
- Michael Jordan and baseball. Coming back and playing with the Wizards did way more damage to his reputation I believe because at this point he simply couldn’t let things die.
In the big scheme of things your “failures” will only be blips on the radar. Just as you should take as many chances and calculated risks as possible in life, you should also know when it’s time to walk away from something. With that I leave you with these quotes from Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison.
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Thomas Edison
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While agreed that baseball didn’t tarnish MJ badly (probably somewhat thanks to his ability to poke fun at himself), I don’t think his second comeback with the Wizards tarnished him much either. He was still an excellent player who just showed signs of reasonable age. At the time, things seemed silly, but in the years that have passed, the image people have of Jordan has returned to his Bulls glory years.
More on the general topic, I agree that failures need not be dwelled upon. Failures are generally forgotten the next time you have a success anyway, so why not just keep pushing for that next great idea?
By Jeff on May 22, 2006 2:44 am
What a nice contrast compared to this earlier post at SVN.
I’m probably not reading into either post correctly, but this is the one I’m more inspired by emotionally. Thanks Scrivs…
By Richard Medek on May 22, 2006 3:49 am
Great thoughts and proof of the idea that you have to speculate to accumulate. I love doing side projects for that reason, yeah the failure rate might be high but it is through playing you can learn and develop. I think one of the big things for any person to do is play and experiment with what they know. Failures can be big blips on the radar but as you say success overcomes most blips. I guess it’s a bit about being careful about your failures too in a certain respect.
By karmatosed on May 22, 2006 4:31 am
“I think that everyone that reads this site has a passion for starting a pet project and I’m sure many of you have done a couple in the past.”
It is true with my experience
By Osram on May 22, 2006 6:28 am
Good post.
Boy do I dive head first into projects. I really need to stop doing that though and focus on one thing, then move to the next :)
By Ben Lilley on May 22, 2006 6:40 am
Everytime I start a new pet-project (whether it succeeds or fails), it puts me that much closer to having all the tools necessary to making the next one a winner. It also puts me that much closer to going insane, but that can be fun too ;)
I think the hardest thing about “letting go” is how much time and energy gets put into these sorts of things. It’s like a relationship. How many times do you come across couples that keep “trying to make things work” when they should have just ended it months ago? Everyone else knows it should end, but they keep at it.
By Joshua Lane on May 22, 2006 10:46 am
Funny because I was going to bring up the relationship analogy, but decided to stay away from it since I talk about it in so many other places. You are spot on though about each new project making us stronger for the next one, as long as we walk away with something learned. Otherwise just running through them serves absolutely no purpose.
By Scrivs on May 22, 2006 10:52 am
I hate to sound like my parents and grandparents, but the old adage is true, “It builds character”. I would be hesitant to partner with someone who has never failed because they’re either lying or are ill-prepared to handle the ups and downs of design, business and life. On a professional and personal level, I appreciate every success and every failure. I would not be who I am and where I am without them.
By Spectorbrain on May 22, 2006 2:13 pm
[...] A couple of days ago I talked about letting things die and I wrote that entry knowing that I would be selling the Fine Fools Network. It’s not a hard thing to do now, but it’s probably something that should have been done a long time ago, but it was hard to let something die that I knew I could make stronger. Of all the projects that I have done in the past I learned the most from this one and I have no regrets. [...]
By Selling Fine Fools » Wisdump on May 24, 2006 1:20 pm
[...] Well those who know me well are aware of the fact that I tend to lets say, be a bit ambitous at times? OK, a bit could be a bit of a understatement. I tend to get an idea in my head and run with it, the consequences come later, and the bills too! I’m almost as bad as Scrivs. [...]
By The Thin Line Of Success & Failure at Ben’s Journal on June 8, 2006 11:27 pm
I’ll play contrarian and say one shouldn’t necessarily consider selling a business a failure. (or is it the sale amount, that is just too low?)
I’ve sold two web businesses now, neither for millions of dollars. But those two days were probably the best in my life. (not to mention the nights out blowing some of the influx of cash)
(Came across this thread cuz I’m considering selling a Weblog Network of my own, and if I get at least a decent asking price … it’ll all have been worth it.)
By Shanti Braford on September 5, 2006 1:53 am