Posted by ChrisBarling on Wed, 08/09/2010 - 12:48
I am going to generalise here, but I think it’s safe to say that most of us that run a business have pretty big egos, even if they can sometimes be a bit brittle. As a result, we can be closed to other ideas, but that’s usually to our detriment. It’s a hard reality for some of us to comprehend sometimes but we don’t know everything, we all have things to learn. A lot of knowledge can be gained from the so-called school of hard knocks, but this goes hand-in-hand with the high failure rate for UK start ups. Learning on the job is fine, as long as the company survives the mistakes along the way.
So apart from expensive and time-consuming training courses, or going back to college to study an MBA, how can we improve our performance?
The answer, I believe, is simple. We all need external input. And the wider and more sources of that input, the better.
If you’re small there’s a wealth of advice online, including BusinessZone, and not to mention “dead tree” magazines like The Economist and others that can provide great general intelligence. In some ways there’s too much available, so it’s easy to ignore everything. History is littered with people who were caught out by developments that were extensively trailed throughout the press – the demise of the cheque springs to mind today – but there’s much more to learn than just upcoming technology and legislative changes.
However, possibly the best way to get pertinent advice is through other people. Friends involved in business can often have some useful words of wisdom. If your company is larger, there are always your shareholders. There’s also the opportunity to appoint non-executive directors. There are a lot of older people who no longer wish to be in the front line, but enjoy the idea of mentoring and bringing a wealth of experience to the table, usually for a reasonable fee.
Learning through these routes is all together easier than getting your lessons by going bankrupt, and can be enjoyable too. I recommend it.
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