Have you ever had a chance to shake hands with the founder of a worldwide brand?
I had just that opportunity this week when I was speaking at an Ursula Mentjes event. About 40 of us had a chance to meet the founder of Ugg brand sheepskin boots, Brian Smith.
He’s brand new to public speaking and was motivated to do so because he just saw so many businesses malfunctioning without just cause. While Brian had tons of thought-provoking insights to share, one in particular turned my head.
Someone asked him “Looking back on your career what would you do differently?”
“I wouldn’t have done it,” he simply said.
The room went silent.
We were all thinking the same thing. Brian created something special, something unusual, something that just about everyone in the world knows by name. And it certainly made him rich. And he wouldn’t have done it???
“I wouldn’t have started Ugg. It was so much work. To be an entrepreneur we have to have grave ignorance. If we knew everything up front, we wouldn’t do what we do.”
Then as what he said sunk in, we all started to laugh. Laughing at the frank and honest truthfulness of what he shared. This wasn’t the kind of insight you except from the founder of a world-wide brand that made him a millionaire. But it was honest, and truthful, and not just about Brian but it probably applies to most of us.
To be an entrepreneur—to push and cajole your baby to success—it’s good to be a little ignorant. It’s good not to be able to perfectly see your future. And frankly, most entrepreneurs thrive on the unpredictable nature of business. Surprises are not deviations from the path. Instead they are the norms that enable us to carve a path through the chaos. It’s the reason many ignore market research. We see it as time and money wasters.
So to all of you I wish a little grave ignorance, a lack of total clarity about what your future holds. Go out and do your thing. Push your baby forward and embrace its unpredictability.
And may you all wear your ignorance as well and as profitably as Brian Smith does.
Go forth and do great things,
Martha Hanlon & Chris Williams