Read an interesting story about LinkedIn where founder Reid Hoffman talks about failing fast. I am not too familiar with this concept of fail fast. In fact its completely against my system which is to seek perfection in everything I do. But having come across it a few times now, I must say I totally get it.
One might ask why fail at all? I am starting something new and failure is the last thing I want to be thinking of. And to fail fast sounds like I am actually aiming for it! However keeping technicalities aside, fail fast seems to mean that we must try the big things and get them out of the way first. In any business the biggest fear is whether there will be anyone paying you for your service. And to fail fast is to test the business model, to test your vision of the world.
Fail fast simply means fail fast on your fears: take your fears head on, test your assumptions, test the boundaries and become wiser. Needless to say, the best time to do this is very early on when what one learns can be internalised. So personally I don’t read fail fast as aching for failure in your startup. I read it as a way to validate your thinking at the earliest possible opportunity and taking the necessary steps to remould where needed.
There are a couple of sweet quotes in the story that I especially loved:
1. “If you’re not embarrassed by your first product release, you’ve released too late”.
2. “Failure should not be seen as negative or tarring, but as a good learning experience”.
So, as I am on the cusp of my first business, I must relax the perfectionist and I must test my fears on areas where real risk is being taken. And I must test fast!