Sometimes it’s your failures that make you a success in business. Joel Harrison talks asking for help, showing off your scars and the Japanese art of kintsugi.
I’ve never been one for exams; they’re just not for me. I’m a ‘learn on the job’ chap. I tend to agree with American artist and philosopher Elbert Hubbard, who once wrote, “God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas, but for scars”. And scars are the stripes even the most risk averse entrepreneur earns.
Scars take many forms: they can be financial; emotional; time-related; sometimes physical, mostly through sheer exhaustion in the world of business. And these scars are earned most often from making mistakes.
Mistakes are a part of everyday life, especially for the entrepreneur, whose business life is littered with trip-wires and pitfalls, as we often venture into territory unknown, in order to succeed. Why? Because it is here that we often bring the most value through new opinion, looking at things from a different angle, and the idea that entrepreneurs tend to be focused on finding solutions for problems, not dwelling on them. However, this often leaves us exposed to the pit-falls and trip-wires more experienced and learned professionals in the field know about.
In Japan, there is an art-form known as ‘kintsugi’, fixing broken objects with gold. The result is that scars are celebrated as experience; an object with a rich history and story to tell, that has been useful to the point of breaking, and is useful once again.
Kintsugi requires a crafts person to fix a broken object, and as entrepreneurs we need other people around us to be our craftspeople, to dab gold on us when cracks appear. In a world where most entrepreneurs are self-employed, working solo or in small teams of two or three, it is therefore of great importance to have good people around you.
These people might not be in the same industry, but have experience that can guide and advise. They may work in the drinks business, but have greater experience, with more golden scars, and can pass on invaluable advice and knowledge.
Asking for help
I’ve always found, in 15 years of being self-employed, that asking others with greater experience for advice has been key to moving forward and staying on target with my hopes, goals and aspirations.
If you were to ask me what area of my business life I have had the highest rate of success in, my answer would be ‘asking people for advice and help’. Rarely have I ever been turned down when I’ve asked. Why? Because, in my experience, people like to share knowledge with other passionate people.
Yet asking others for help or advice can often be seen as a point of weakness, which makes me sad. The old adage that ‘a child is raised by a village’ is never more true when it comes to the self-employed and the entrepreneur. The drinks business is a village, and we are all children in it, learning through play. At times we need to ask the village for help. And rarely does the village disappoint.
Thankfully, life is not a series of exams. It is a series of conversations; a continually growing tapestry of relationships; an ever-evolving book of short stories. Just remember that conversations need more than one person to happen; relationships require others; stories need multiple characters.
You are not alone in your journey, or in making mistakes, so when they happen, learn from them. Discuss them. Show off your scars, and make sure each one comes with a story, not just for your own benefit, but to benefit someone else, too.