Why the Super Bowl proves that FAILURE is a KEY to Success. (Part 1)

                The Super Bowl will pit two championship coaches against each other:  Pete Carrol of the Seahawks who has won championships on the college and NFL levels and, Bill Belichick  a multi-Super Bowl winner.  By all accounts, they are successful in their chosen careers and are possibly hall of famers.  However, they have a common denominator between them that involves failure . . . the New York Jets.

                Both are former head coaches of the Jets.  As a long suffering Jets fan, I remember them well.  Although Belichick was head coach for only one day before bolting to the Patriots (no I am not bitter), he was on the sideline for heartbreaking losses including the Jets loss in the AFC championship game to the Broncos when the Jets were leading at halftime.  Bill also was head coach of the Browns before they moved to Baltimore.  That history speaks for itself.   Pete failed to bring championships not only to the Jets, but also, as head coach of the Patriots.

                I am sure on Sunday, my fellow Jets fans (and even some Browns fans) may be thinking: “What if they stayed to coach our team?”

                Well, the truth of the matter is that all Patriot Fans and Seahawk fans owe a debt of gratitude to the Jets for allowing both Pete and Bill to make their mistakes and learn from them to go on to build championship teams.  Had Bill and Pete not “bled Jet green” at one time, they would not be facing each other on the biggest stage in sports.

                If you are a small business owner, you must keep this lesson in mind.  You are going to face struggles and challenges in your business.  Sometimes it’s hard to get through the day.  It’s all part of being a small business owner.  You must expect to make mistakes, take on challenges and keep pushing to learn what will work.  There is no one way to do things and you must keep trying different ways until it all comes together.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Thomas Edison on how long it took him to figure out how to make a light bulb.  He said:  “I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  (Part 2- The Jets creation of perfection).