Two weeks ago I wrote about Richard Branson and his act of “sheer absurdity” when he started a magazine without any capital or experience. As Branson noted, he was just too young to know better. I got so many positive responses to that post that I decided to do a bit more homework on the topic of “analysis paralysis” – the state of over-thinking a decision to the point of gridlock.
Just for fun I tried to find a book by another British entrepreneur – to see if I could find any similarities with Branson’s story. So I picked up the book, How to Get Rich, by British multi-millionaire, Felix Dennis. Dennis started with nothing. Here is how he described his journey:
“(As to) all the great fortunes acquired by entrepreneurs … nobody had bothered to tell them that such and such a thing could not be done or would be likely to fail. Or, if they had been told, they weren’t listening.
“Not knowing that something cannot be done, you are likely to waltz into uncharted minefields where angels before you have feared to dance.
“Never trust the vast mountain of conventional wisdom. It contains nuggets of wisdom, it is true. But they lie alongside rivers of fool’s gold. Conventional wisdom daunts initiative and offers far too many reasons for inaction ….”
Felix Dennis, like Richard Branson, took action against the advice of many repeating the conventional wisdom. His story ended well. Not all risks do end well.
The decision when and whether to act in the pursuit of something you feel strongly about cannot be quantified. You do need to prepare. Do your homework. Speak to as many people as you can. I am certainly not advocating acting impulsively. Just know, however, that many great business successes are the result of men and women ignoring conventional wisdom.
Jim Randel is the founder of The Skinny On book series. His first book, The Skinny on The Housing Crisis, was selected Book of the Year in a competition sponsored by an organization of 650 journalists.
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