The Winner Makes Fewer Mistakes

I read this quote the other day from a tennis player talking about the difference between winning and losing. "It isn't who is higher ranked or more experienced, but who plays better that day... the one that makes fewer mistakes.. that's the one that wins."

Mistakes are made when decisions are made based upon emotions like impatience and fear or bad personality traits such as greed, pride or ego.

In all of our lives there has been that moment where we felt as though we made the perfect decision. We took in all of the information, analyzed the different paths and made a decision based upon the data. Note that sometimes a data point is "I get a bad feeling about this"

Early on in every business, product or strategic decision there is that moment where you have decided to succeed or fail. This moment, this decision... it isn't driven by the actual decision that you've made but by how you came to that decision.

The hardest part about this is the struggle I see many young entrepreneurs experience "how do I innovate rapidly and analyze my decisions properly?" It is a process, one that must be unique to each individual.

Here is what I do.

1. I do a quick analysis of success (How do I define it, is is feasible, at what cost)
2. I come up with a high level execution strategy including costs, partners and pitfalls
3. I pass this information on and discuss it with trusted friends, family or colleagues. I make sure I get the opinion of at least one trusted individual who knows me but knows nothing about the industry I am targeting. This ensures I will have someone looking at the concept from a strictly practical perspective.

If the strategy passes these three tests it's time to formalize the execution strategy... detail the costs and action items, rally the troops and execute. Research, analyze, adjust and execute