Smart People Also Fail In Business.

Really Smart People Can Fail In Business

I have had the pleasure to work for, with and around some very smart people.  Some of those smart people have impressed me so much I cannot believe they have had trouble producing excellent results in their business affairs.  Smart people can and do fail in business.  If they do not fail, many struggle with their business models constantly.  It happens.

One of the brightest people I have had the pleasure to share in business experience has struggled to win in his business model for the best part of the past decade.  I have met a lot of really bright people in my business walk.  This particular business owner is one of the brightest.  The characteristic that sets his wisdom so far out in front of the other really smart business owners is his ability to know what to do well before a trend has turned itself into a reality.  He possesses the uncanny skill to 'see' what needs to be done well before the trend has arrived.  Very few business owners have exhibited his level of accuracy of knowing where to be on the coming trends, well before they arrive.  He also knows how to properly arrange and prepare his business model to take full advantage of his insightful skills.  His excellence on this particular set of skills is unparalleled.  It has always amazed me how he can define where a trend in his industry is headed and how well he designs his model to capitalize on that change.

So why does he struggle so much in his business affairs?

First of all, I will lay money on the fact that if we were on current speaking terms, he might deny that his business model is struggling.  Even though he has excellent skills in some areas of business savvy, other areas of great need are null and void.  The challenges his business faces in the areas he carry's the most weaknesses are costing him a wonderful chance to make it big in the business world.  This type of leadership plagues even the best operators, including the ones who have the most intelligence.  Really smart people can struggle in the business world.

If you are one of the really bright people in this world and you own a business, how do you know if your business model is struggling?  How do you know if what you are doing is the right thing to be doing?  When do you accept the recession as your fault for failure as opposed to accepting some other reasons?  Let's examine some of these 'hard-to-come-to-terms-with" scenarios.  If you are really smart, you will find this post kind of uncomfortable.  Smart people might consider this post to be kind of elementary.  They might find this subject kind of offensive.  If so, I urge those really smart people to push through it and read on.  It might be good for them to get a little more humble and begin working on the voids in their operational style which are simply killing their business opportunities for better success.  The truth remains, really smart people can and do struggle in their business models.  Unfortunately, really smart people also have some of the highest levels of denial I have ever witnessed.  Maybe that is why they struggle so much.  If you are really smart and you have been struggling in your business for a long time, you might be one of those business owners who is beginning to get irritated with this particular post.  Push through it.

If You Are Smart, Your Ideas Can Still Fail.

I have seen some 'not-so-smart' people do very well in the business world.  Sometimes I wonder what type of magic they possess that continues to help them win at a game that is often times difficult to figure out.  Some 'not-so-smart' people often times win at some of the most difficult business challenges.  I have witnessed it.  It, too, is uncanny.

I am not sure what type of business leader you are, really smart or not so smart.  However, I do know how one wins and how one loses.  Winners usually have an uncanny ability to adjust when adjustments are pressed to be made.  Losers are unwilling to adjust even though they know the adjustment will help.  Regardless of your smarts...being stubborn and unwilling to adjust against your will seems to produce less victories than a business can absorb comfortably.  All businesses can absorb some wrong turns.  All businesses can make proper adjustments to correct the wrong turns.  Those who lose the most are the ones who are the least willing to turn the other way when it becomes obvious to turn.  Really smart people have the most difficult time adjusting in this way.  It continues to 'kill' their otherwise intelligent business moves.  It has always baffled me to witness this effect.

A recession is a troubling event.  Business models struggle as a result of recessionary activities.  Most business leaders make painful decisions during a recession.  During a recession, most business leaders cut costs so deeply they wonder how they will be able to provide any comfortable level of customer satisfaction.  Inventories are too shallow and too skinny to offer adequate supplies for customer demands.  Staffing is too few to provide preferable levels of customer service.  Budgets are cut so deeply that it is a wonder any customers can find happiness doing business with any recessionary designed business model.

Not only is a recession very troubling for consumers to enjoy, it can warp the mind of a business owner.  A really smart business owner may actually blame the recession for the demising problems their business model is experiencing.  In fact, some not-so-smart owners do the same thing.  They all blame the economy.

What a great place to hide.  The owners who have always had some degree of trouble producing healthy business results can now blame the recession for the negative state of affairs their business model is experiencing.  What a great place to hide.  Wrinkles in their armor can be ignored.  Necessary and helpful changes can be skipped.  Really smart people do this kind of stuff, all the time.  I have witnessed it many times in my career.  I have also watched many of these really smart people deny this effect.  Maybe that is why they like to talk so much about this recession.  It has become a wonderful source of deflection away from the other really important changes they need to be making.

If you are rubbing up against the recession on a daily basis, maybe we need to examine what needs to be changing.  The recession is what it is and will continue to do what it does.  You, however, can make some solid changes that will help you win more often in your business model.  I have a sneaky hunch the first area needing to change is within one self.  Maybe the heart and soul of the business leader is broken enough to actually operate in a state that will always produce a losing set of results.  No level of smarts can erase this pattern.  Really smart leaders can and do learn how to become winners, too.  Winning in business is not a monopoly enjoyed by only the 'not-so-smart' business owners.  Really smart people can win, too.

Just once, try becoming more sensitized to what truly needs to be done.  Repair yourself first.  Learn how to develop stronger people skills.  Quit living a life that ends up forcing you to find ways to avoid meeting people from your past business experiences.  Great business winners cannot wait to meet all of the people they have shared time together with in their past business experiences.  Great business winners enjoy sharing their experiences from the past with their previous associates and customers, recession or not.  Relationships.  It is all about building great relationships.  Building great relationships is the secret key to winning in business.  If you possess crappy relationships, your business results will continue to remain, crappy...recessions or not.  It is time to face it and do something worthwhile about it, even if you have to delegate it to someone else!  Begin the work on improving your relationships.  Your business deserves it.  At last, something really smart can be done.

Until next time...