Tweet

Lesson #3: Follow The Path Of The Unsafe

Article Overview: “Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new,” said Watson.

Lesson #3: Follow The Path Of The Unsafe

“Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new,” said Watson.

Watson had put his faith in the computer industry before there was even such a thing. He bet his time, his energy and, perhaps most importantly his money on his own personal hunch that the business trends of information recording and automation would only increase with time. He took a chance and, in the end it paid off.

“Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker,” said Watson. “Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity.”

It was with this willingness to take risks and embrace the unknown that Watson approached all the endeavours in his life. Even his decision to venture off on his own instead of accepting the traditional job offers was a risk in and of itself. With a new wife and a son in tow, turning down the security of a stable job demonstrated Watson’s ability to take a chance and challenge himself.

“Develop your initiative,” said Watson. “Do something no one else has done.” From starting up his own business to embracing and betting on electronic and digital machines, Watson was walking new ground. There was no guarantee that either strategy would be successful, but he was willing to take that risk.

“Pioneering must never cease,” said Watson. “Yesterday we pioneered for today; today, we are pioneering for tomorrow.” Throughout his career, Watson remained devoted to uncovering the unknown, which always involved a certain amount of risk. However, he refused to shy away from that risk, preferring instead to challenge it head on, prospering from his successes and learning from his failures.

It was this attitude that Watson tried to impress on everyone from the managers on down to the floor workers at his company. “Too many people are waiting for someone else to give them a push,” said Watson. “We have tried to develop self-starters in IBM.” Watson wanted people on his team who were not afraid to push the boundaries, to try something new, and to be willing to put themselves on the line.

The most important factor for Watson when taking risks was staying true to himself, following his instincts and trusting his own abilities to follow through with his actions. “Your success will be determined by the manner in which you use the tools you have been given to work with,” said Watson. “When practicing the art of selling use all your talents. Put everything you have into your efforts; above all put your personality into them. Never copy anybody. Be yourself.”

Watson was able to capitalize on his willingness to take the road less traveled and open up new paths and, as a result, so was IBM. By focusing on research and developing products the likes of which the world had never seen before, IBM was able to not only become an industry leader but to revolutionize the way the world did business.

Related Articles
  How to Modify the Path Variable in Linux/Unix
  Who's Got Your Power?
  LEADERS TRAVEL ON THE PATH OF MAKING PATH.
  How do you honor your feelings?
  The Highest Leverage Investment in a Business is...

Article Tags: attitude, automation, business trends, computer industry, conformity, controversy, crackpot, endeavours, hunch, independent thinker, initiative, job offers, new ground, own business, stable job, stigma, successes, traditional job, watson, willingness



Related Forum Posts
Re: What are your January Goals? - Here's a quick update on mine: Goal #1: Hire New Writer = done - Post job description on oDesk - Set up trial job - Pick top candidate Goal #2: Follow up with Clients = done - Create and send quarterly report - Touch base with last year's clients - Follow up with 4 connectors Goal #3: PERSONAL = about 70% done on the month - Do something nice for my wife each week - Exercise 4 times per week - Daily stretch - want to touch my toes
Re: What Sells Online? - Its really true that gadgets, books and fashion wears are more in demand on the internet business.. But firstly, the assumption I am going to make is that you are looking to install an open source software. The one I recommend is Magento Commerce, which is an extremely powerful platform to use for any e-commerce business. Tyrone Shum Internet Business Path dot com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Need help with understanding ecommerce? Visit my blog and learn how to profit from ecommerce.
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods - We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her. Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails. I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out. So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.
Re: THE Most Important Concern At Startup - Follow-through. A lot of people have great business ideas, but not enough people follow through. You need to be committed and just go for it.
Re: Marketing strategy - I'm assuming by your question, you would like the cinemas to sell your product. One of the best marketing strategies is the use of sampling. Here's how you might go about doing it with cinemas... Rent a list of local cinema managers in your area and mail them a sample of your product (along with a sales letter). Follow up with a call to set up an appointment to discuss your idea with them.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How do you keep it together on a daily basis?

Four Secrets to Earning Income as an Author

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.