Simply a brilliant tagline and one of my favorites. Something to keep in mind no matter if it’s sports or business. Also one of the fundamentals in The Beta Paradigm where planning doesn’t lead to action – planning IS action. Act while you plan, plan while you act. Act fast.
Just do it.
Another thing to learn from Sagrada Familia, the church in beta: If you’re up to something, go all in.
Sagrada Familia is not only a huge building, it’s also a grand vision. Not only spectacular to look at but also a complex construction.
When going for your vision, be courageous and go all in. Most important though, get going. Use your beta versions.
Thinking of yourself and your business as constant beta versions is not an excuse to be ordinary. It’s a tool to become extraordinary. Always strive to be remarkable but embrace the fact that no one is perfect and that perfect is not even the goal. Progress is. Avoid stagnation and get rid of perfection paralysis once and for all. Stay in Startup Mode!
Last days I’ve been working from Barcelona, preparing our upcoming Nex(t)cellence event. Also got really inspired by one of the great monuments; Sagrada Familia. Thought I would share my takeaways with you this week.
This building has been under construction the last 125 years and won’t be finished any time soon, if ever. I call it being in permanent beta 🙂 So, can you not be finished and still attract clients and earn money?
Oh yes! Sagrada Familia is fully financed by exhibition fees and people stay in line for hours to see it. In fact, not being finished is what makes it attractive. I think the same goes for you and your business; you’re more attractive when you’re in beta, making progress. Finished, or perfect, is boring.
Read an interesting article on Forbes today, ”Could Uber Put FedEx Out Of Business?”, about disrupting business ideas. Not only do we need to constantly ask ourselves how we can innovate our business, we also need to ask what business we could be in tomorrow. Markets and conditions change all the time. All of a sudden there’s someone pushing an opportunity and flip everything we do. Make sure that’s you. Stay in Startup Mode.
Sagrada Familia, a never ending building project – or, as I like to call it, a church in constant beta version. Finished or not, it’s still extraordinary. Just as you can be. Launch yourself and your business in beta version, make progress as you go. Strive to add an “extra” to ordinary.
You can make an impact, also in beta.
You know when you walk into a store and know the product is just made for you? That happened to me today, I had to buy these shoes. On my way back, I started making up all kind of rational arguments why I needed them… Made me laugh. Why not just admit I fell in love with the shoes? Our purchasing decisions are very much based on emotions and still we’re super-rational when describing our offer.
What if we would focus on creating expectations and making the client curious about us instead? Rational arguments are important but put first things first.
Wrote some time ago about maybe being the opposite of yes, and the opposite of being in startup mode. Maybe is non-definitive which means stagnation. It’s not always easy to walk the talk and last days I’ve found myself in a stage of maybe… Lucky me, I have a great business mentor, Per Frykman, and he challenged me to have a “maybe-free” day. After some discussion we decided to make the rest of the week maybe-free. Here we go!
Will you join me?
Kind of often I hear ”You’re so brave starting your own business”. Of course, I’m very honored that people think I’m brave and happy for the compliment – thank you!! But honestly, I’m no braver than anyone else. What happened when I followed my dream and started my business some years ago, was that I realized three important things:
Now is just as good as tomorrow, or next week or next year, for taking action. To me it’s helpful to think about myself and my business as constant beta versions; not perfect but always making progress and striving to be remarkable.
Maybe that could help you to? Don’t let your dream wait for you!
Never settle. Protect your curiosity. Nurture your creativity. Love what you do. Strive to be a slightly better beta version of yourself every day. Push opportunities and take action. Make an impact. Change the world.
That’s Startup Mode™.