Meetings Blog Jan 14, 2020
The quotations that become famous do so for a reason, often providing us with deeper insight, inspiration or another emotional link. In our series we reflect on various famous quotes and how they can be used to feed the demands of meeting and event planners. Today: Bill Gates.
It's fine to celebrate success but it's more important to heed the lessons of failure
It all started for the tech entrepreneur back in 1975 when he and Paul Allen founded the software company Microsoft. After missing classes in high school to focus on computer programming, and then dropping out of Harvard University to put everything into the business, Gates hasn’t necessarily followed the normal path to success. And when he shares his feelings on how to develop and improve in business, with a demonstrated strategic and tactical nous, he is always likely to have an attentive audience.
Gates used the phrase above when attempting to explain why making mistakes is something that should not be feared, but instead embraced. “In the corporate world, when someone makes a mistake, everyone runs for cover,” he opened before sharing that this was a behaviour that he tried to rid Microsoft of. “How a company deals with mistakes suggests how well it will bring out the best ideas and talents of its people,” Gates continued, pointing to this being key to responding to change effectively.
Event planners should take heed of these wise words, and for two distinct reasons. Firstly, remembering that setbacks, to some degree, is part of every project can minimize the stress levels common during the planning and execution. It’s unlikely that everything is going to go perfectly and so there’s no need to beat yourself up about it. And the second element to this follows neatly behind: the learning part. Whatever doesn’t go exactly to plan points to something that can be improved upon and this moves your event ever closer to that desired excellence.
