Micro Losses for Macro Learnings

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about a growth vs. a fixed mindset and how this relates to seeing mistakes ad Micro Losses for Macro Learnings.

Through some self awareness exercises it is easy to determine which you fall into and take corrections to ensure you stay in a growth mindset. If you do however, determine you fall under the fixed mindset do not worry! You can easily change your behavior simply by become aware of it and actively pursuing a growth mindset. 

I am reminded of a meeting I was in recently that really drove this point home for me. We were discussing how to market an upcoming charity event and the best ways to collect donations. We had always used the standard methods of marketing such as social media and word of mouth but all the money raised came from ticket sales. Recognizing that this leaves a lot of potential donations on the table such as those who could not make the event or simply didn’t want to go but believed in our cause we decided to propose crowd funding for the first time to tap this segment.

To my surprise the initiative was met with push back from several committee members. I hadn’t expected this and was so surprised it took me a moment to articulate a response, the main concern being that the donations page would cost $57 to set up and maintain. In my mind $57 was well worth the risk we were taking considering the large upside. However in a budget focused meeting the idea was met with much push back. Once we began talking a committee member stood up and said something that stuck with me. “Everyone, I understand that this is something that we have never done before. If we try this and fail we have made a $57 dollar mistake, but if we don’t try at all we could potentially be leaving some big money on the table that could help our charity.”

The point of my story is that this statement perfectly encompasses the idea of Micro Losses for Macro learnings. In business and often in life some of the most valuable information and learnings cannot be bought but must be learned. This does not mean that you should be willing to take on all risks but weighing out the potential downside keeping in mind the potential upside and learnings is a crucial practice. You will fail and should own your failures but learning from them cannot be discounted.

No one comes out of entrepreneurship and starting their own business undefeated. But as in life its what you take away from these losses and how you apply it going forward that really counts.