The Boomerang Theory

I had a great, very educational lunch with a friend of mine Josh today, and he talked to me about boomerangs. Here's how the conversation flowed:

Josh: What would you expect to happen if you threw a boomerang?

Sergey: I would expect the boomerang to return to me.

J: How do you know it'll return?

S: Well, that's what boomerangs do.

J: Have you ever thrown one?

S: No.

J: If went to the field now, how much money would be willing to bet that the boomerang would return?

S: How about 5 bucks?

J: How about $400,000?

S: I wouldn't. I have never thrown a boomerang, and throwing it may require a technique I don't know.

J: Ok, so what would you do if threw a boomerang, and it wouldn't come back to you?

S: I would fetch it and throw it again, trying a different way of throwing it. I don't know what the difference would be. Maybe I would flick my wrist more.

J: And if it failed to return again?

S: I would try again and do something different again.

J: So eventually the boomerang would come back?

S: Yes.

This brief conversation desribes 2 critical components of success:

1. In order to succeed, one must be willing to fail. The boomerang (a new business, career, girlfriend) may not fly on the first attempt. What you learn from this experience is a way to throw the boomerang that doesn't work.

2. In order to succeed, one must do something different when trying again. When you try again, you have to change the way you throw the boomerang.

In other words, succeed by not being afraid to make mistakes and learn from them.