Feedback Not Failure!

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate enough to work with some incredibly successful individuals. I have learned some important lessons that have had a profound effect on my own life and marketing. One key point is the transformative power of words and their meanings.

I remember being in a business meeting with two associates. We were launching a new offer, and had worked long and hard on the message, the advertising and the sales presentation. We were all anxious and tense over how the marketplace would respond to our efforts. The initial reports were disappointing.

The salespeople were finding it very difficult to receive enthusiastic support for the new product. Sales were very low and far below our initial projections.

One business associate was referring to this rollout as a "major setback." I was frustrated by the "failure" that was occurring. The more seasoned executive sat back and commented to me that, "There is no failure, only feedback!" That one statement has definitely changed my life. I was so curious by this remark. Feedback not failure.

People have a hard time with failure. Failures are a very difficult thing for businesses to confront. More importantly, failure is what creates fear and paralyzes creativity. Fear is what keeps people in the past and unable to analytically look at the present and future.

• Usually our egos are so heavily invested in the proposition that we go to great lengths to avoid confronting the failure.

However, when I choose to look at something with the perspective of feedback everything is simply data. I have come to appreciate how emotions either empower or disempower us and shape our viewpoints. Feedback is a perspective that permits us to focus on finding the legitimate solution to the real problem at hand. Feedback is what experts focus upon to genuinely understand what the marketplace needs and wants.