I Want My Mommy

I learned how to ride a bike by falling off my bike. I’d wobble down the street until I lost my balance and end up knee down in the street. After a number of times doing this I was determined to learn how to stop skinning my knees because it hurt!

Although, not knowing how to ride a bike and leaving it in the garage just wasn’t an option. Eventually, I learned how to ride and rode with reckless abandon and soon I loved riding my bike. I still fell off and got hurt at times but only when I was pushing the envelope of my skills and daring do.

The consequences of falling helped teach me the importance of learning to ride the right way. I didn’t like the hurt because I knew what the hurt felt like. Today we are creating a society and workplace that doesn’t understand the hurt. If you are protected from the consequences of your actions or someone swoops in and removes the pain from you by bailing you out – what did you learn? Did you learn to ride your bike or call for your mommy? We are becoming a society crying for their mommies.

Every watch someone hit their thumb with a hammer? Who do you think learned the better lesson about hammers and thumbs; the guy who felt the pain or you watching the guy in pain?

Most successful entrepreneurs have had a failed business attempt in the past, in fact many reached the point of being penniless and bankrupt, yet they came back with a resounding success the second or third time because of the painful lessons learned the first time. What if they had been prevented from that first failure, would they have learned those lessons that created their later success? Ask them and they will tell you no. Mommy saving you doesn't teach you anything.

To grow your business, it’s time to remove the mommy strings from your organization and your employees. In these scary times, playing it safe is sure failure and a good way to lose your bike. You have to take some measured risks to be successful. Small failures and injuries such as skinned knees are part of the learning process and the growing process. In order to grow and improve your organization you need to allow for lessons to be learned.

Make today Thursday’s Lessons day and invite your employees to offer new ideas to try new things and sure there is going to be a skinned knee in the process but the benefit to your organization over all will be far greater. And will no longer need to count on your mommy.