Taking one step back, two steps forward

But if you do encounter something along your journey that doesn’t come out as planned, will you give up or go all the way back to the beginning and do it all over again? No matter how many obstacles you run into, don’t let a setback stop you from pushing ahead. Instead of feeling guilty about a misstep, you are still able to do it better and finally reach your goal some day, little by little, with each step – one backward, two ahead! 

There is an endless array of constraints in our day-to-day life to work around – time, money, other commitments, family, friends etc. We experience the feeling that we worked so hard on something, only to realise later that it is not reaching targets or moving as fast as our expectations. When missteps do happen, a better strategy is to pause in an activity and consider the mistakes. Stepping back is such a simple concept but most people always forget this option when struggling to achieve a goal. Although we definitely believe in keeping forward momentum going, sometimes there are things we have to fix prior to moving forward. We can simply take one step back as we are still ahead of where we were before, far beyond the starting line. Once things are fixed, we can then take two steps forward. 

An ability to understand “mistakes” and take the outcome and do something different the next time is a prerequisite for maintaining steady progress. We will never get everything right the first time. So whatever “imperfect action” we took at the outset, we can tweak it and do something different next time. The key is to have a go, learn from mistakes, make some changes and have another go.

A real example can be found in the life of Steve Jobs, the late co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. His biography tells us the story of the “one step back, two steps forward” cycle. In 1976, Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers, and his energy and inventiveness helped transform the world of personal computers and turn his upstart company into a major player. However, the next several products suffered significant design flaws causing him to lose a power struggle with the board of directors. Jobs stepped down from Apple in 1985 and founded his computer company NeXT. The company successfully produced workstations and software until acquired by Apple in 1996. The acquisition also brought Jobs back to his post as Apple’s CEO. Under his renewed leadership, Jobs took many steps forward with campaigns and stylish designs of ingenious products that caught the attention of consumers again. Apple was saved from near bankruptcy and became profitable by 1998 and has continued with remarkable financial returns since then. 

Taking a step back in businesses can be anything from small activities such as leaving issues aside, or on hold, or withdrawal to significant changes such as reorganising, re-evaluating, re-investing, and changes in strategy. Growing a business by allowing one step back to correct mistakes and pursuing two steps forward may be slow, but can finally assure a steady growth. 

There is no way to guarantee that once you are in business, you will stay in business forever. You need to plan ahead and be prepared by creating the most resilient business possible. If your business proceeds as planned but cannot bounce back from an unexpected crisis, you take one step forward, two steps back – your business will be sinking. 

 

Nutavoot Pongsiri is assistant governor at the Bank of Thailand. Follow his articles in Hi! Managers every second Friday of the month. The views expressed here are entirely the author’s own.