My Favorite Mistake: Business Lessons from Failures and Success

NFL athlete, American Ninja Warrior, and entrepreneur. Show notes and more: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake97 My guest for Episode #97 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Anthony Trucks, a foster kid turned NFL athlete. This is the first time I’ve interviewed somebody who was on American Ninja Warrior. Anthony is the author of the new book, released this week, titled Identity Shift: Upgrade How You Operate to Elevate Your Life. Visit the show notes page for a chance to enter to win a copy of the book! Anthony's also an international speaker, host of the Aww Shift and Shift Starter podcasts, author and founder of Identity Shift coaching. He’s a serial entrepreneur with one serious super power: Making Shift Happen, no matter what, by accessing the power of identity. In today's episode, Anthony shares his “favorite mistake” story about the first business he started after the NFL, a personal training business with a huge lease in the economic downturn of 2009. How and why did he seek out help and why was “being forced to figure it out” his favorite mistake? Other topics and questions: “When you drop your ego, past mistakes, flaws, and fear of failure, you can find your internal fire to catapult you into the life that you want and deserve.”EGO – Everybody’s Greatest Obstacle Fear of failure? —> How did you view the possibility of making mistakes on the field as a football player? 6 levels of failure – above or below the learning line“Version failure” – learns from the mistake “Predictable failure” – knowing we can’t be perfect What is identity? — we have different identities at different timesIt’s who we are when we’re not thinking about who we are What does it mean that your survey says I'm a “slow dreamer”? How did you find you new identity after your NFL career ended suddenly? Identity shift? Find Anthony on Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Author of Escaping the Build Trap Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake96 My guest for Episode #96 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Melissa Perri. She is the author of the book Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value. Melissa does many things, including hosting the podcast Product Thinking with Melissa Perri. She is Founder & CEO of Produx Labs. Melissa created the online school Product Institute, where she has shared her scientific approach to Product Management with over 3500 students. She also started a program called the CPO Accelerator. In 2019, Melissa was appointed to the faculty of Harvard Business School to teach Product Management in the MBA program. Melissa is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, having addressed audiences in over 35 countries. She has a B.S. in Operations Research and Information Engineering from Cornell University. In today's episode, Melissa shares her “favorite mistake” story related to working for a software company, where they produced a big requirements document and then built software that, basically, nobody wanted to use. People SAY they’ll use it, but really?? Other topics and questions: How do we know if it’s a great startup idea? The Highest Paid Person's Opinion? Risk of creating smaller batches but not being open to experiments not working out *MVP – minimum viable product Delegating the things you’re really good at Didn’t listen to gut over advice, warring with herself for years “Experiment theatre” What is “The Build Trap”? As a consultant, have to be careful not naming names when presenting on stage or doing podcasts… everyone’s on a journey Product management mistakes? Is the problem the product managers or the company? Find Melissa onTwitter LinkedIn --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Serial Entrepreneur and author of Power Your Profits Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake95 My guest for Episode #95 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Susie Carder. She is a Profit Coach & Founder at SC Consulting. Susie has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, building seven multi-million dollar companies, selling two that she built to $10M. She is the author of a book, released last year, titled Power Your Profits: How to Take Your Business from $10,000 to $10,000,000. Her book's website is PowerYourProfitsBook.com. In today's episode, Susie shares her "favorite mistake" story about getting destroyed financially in a three-year period starting in 2007, losing 90% of her wealth and her marriage. Her lesson learned was to "not be so overleveraged." Other topics and questions: Felt she didn’t have the energy to rebuild at age 42 Her identity was her work -- now what? She went back into real estate because she was willing to learn from her mistakes 15% of entrepreneurship success is technical — another mistake is not learning finances Being careful WHO you sell to How she started her first business "on accident" while working as a hairdresser Build your company AS IF you’re going to sell it Talking about mistakes businesses might make… What is the “cash crisis roller coaster”? “Wealth is our birthright” -- but it's not easy nor handed to us Mistake: Don’t admit to your team you are making it up “I’m a really great coach because I’m a really good student” Her program: Bullet Train to Big Profits Program Find Susie onFacebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Pinterest --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Founder and master distiller, Glenn's Creek Distilling Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake94 My guest for Episode #94 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is an old friend of mine from professional circles, David Meier. When I first met him, he had left his career at Toyota, and became a consultant in the Lean methodology around the world. He is co-Author of the books The Toyota Way Fieldbook and Toyota Talent. In recent years, he founded Glenn's Creek Distillery in Kentucky, which I've been able to visit twice. I've interviewed David previously a few times on my Lean podcast -- about Toyota/Lean and about the distillery. In today's episode, David shares his "favorite mistake" story from his Toyota days and how they created a "no-fault, no-blame culture." Other topics and questions: More background about what you learned at Toyota Hard for people to talk about mistakes, admitting they’re human Blame vs. responsibility? Toyota teaches that leaders have responsibility Blame with punishment = “accountability”? Punishment replaced with learning and improvement? Hard on the process, not on the people Mr. Yoshino’s mix up with the paint area (Episode #30) My episode about the nearly lost episodes (Episode #16) Mistakes about mistakes? Mistakes at the distillery Mistakes vs. discoveries? Whiskey transported in barrels - mistake or learning?? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Creator of the Good News Guide Links and show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake93 I've lost my voice due to allergies, so I want to thank my wife for bailing me out, again, by serving as an announcer for this episode. My guest for Episode #93 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Lisa Winneke. An expert in self-empowerment, Lisa knows all about leadership, growth, and love and she helps people become the most trusted person in their client's, companies, and families lives. She is the founder & host of "The Good News Guide," which can be found on YouTube and as a podcast. In today's episode, Lisa shares her "favorite mistake" story about a theme of looking outside of herself for answers to life's questions. Why did she say she "didn't even know who I was"? Other topics and questions: Being afraid of making mistakes Mark Pett’s book --> His episode A mistake to watch too much mainstream TV news? Working with individuals now, also CEOs and leadership teams Her new membership program, working with individuals now, also CEOs and leadership teams Find Lisa onPodcast Twitter LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Facebook --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Show notes and links: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake92 I've lost my voice due to allergies, so I want to thank my wife for bailing me out by serving as an announcer for this episode. My guest for Episode #92 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Sunil Godse. He's an engineer who has a company called Intuitionology and he teaches “businesses how to boost their productivity by using intuitive resonance to establish trusted professional relationships.” Sunil is the author of the books Fail Fast. Succeed Faster and GUT! In today's episode, Sunil shares his "favorite mistake" story about an unfortunate violent crime committed against a friend and how that helped him better appreciate the role of "gut" and "intuition" in business and in life. Before recording the episode, Sunil told me, “My obsession with studying why we ignore our intuition was when I made that mistake that led to a good friend of mine being shot and killed, and I created the Intuitionology project to stop people from wasting time in their lives making bad decisions when they could spend that same time making the right decisions that move their lives forward.” Other topics and questions: What is intuition? What other signals did Sunil ignore in his career? Personal and professional examples Looking back at a mistake… “I should have trusted my gut” The Brain-Gut Connection | Johns Hopkins Medicine What is “intuitive resonance?” What are the four types of intuition? Sunil's free 7-day challenge Find Sunil on Podcast Twitter LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Facebook --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Author of the new book "Digital Body Language" Show notes and links: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake91 My guest for Episode #91 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Erica Dhawan, a globally recognized leadership expert, and keynote speaker. She helps organizations and leaders innovate faster and further, together. Her new book DIGITAL BODY LANGUAGE: How to Build Trust & Connection No Matter the Distance reached #3 on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list! Scroll down to learn how to enter to win a copy. She has a BS from The Wharton School, an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, and an MBA from MIT Sloan. In today's episode, Erica shares her "favorite mistake" story about how her electronic communication with a newly hired intern gave the wrong impression -- and what she learned from that experience. Other topics and questions: Should we communicate differently with "digital natives?" Was your book based on mistakes or research or both? What is digital body language? Writing vs video meetings? When do we really need to be on video?? Digital body language mistakes? Meeting mutitasking — Not paying attention? "This meeting could have been an email” Dealing with the person who never wants to turn on video?? Virtual speaking mistakes? Find Erica on LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Instagram --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Founder of Bob Rush Consulting Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake90 My guest for Episode #90 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Bob Rush, a Lean manufacturing expert, a management consultant (Bob Rush Consulting), and a contributor to the anthology book Practicing Lean. His bio from his chapter read: "Bob has over 35 years of operations experience and has had over 25 years of Lean practice. His experience is in companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, and title levels that ranged from shipping clerk to VP of operations. Some of the companies he has worked with, and for, include Hewlett Packard, JDS Uniphase, and Idex Corporation. His journey includes ten years of consulting experience, where he had only himself to blame if things didn’t work out." Bob was also "associate Lean manager" at Tesla Motors from 2015 to 2018 before returning to consulting. In today's episode, Bob shares his “favorite mistake” story about not realizing, at first, that “Lean” is a system, not a toolbox. Why does he say that “the biggest project I’ll ever work on is myself”? Other topics and questions: What’s your elevator speech about Lean? How do you explain it to a CEO? Creating a culture where it’s OK to talk about mistakes? What was the teaching style of your mentors? They knew you’d figure it out? Not simple telling… “Big fan of making mistakes” – Why did he once give a reward for the biggest mistake? Find Bob on LinkedIn --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

My guest for Episode #89 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Christine Handy, a motivational speaker, author, and breast cancer survivor. Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake89 In 2016, Christine released her first book Walk Beside Me, a fictional depiction of her illness and a long road to recovery. After her diagnosis, Christine now aims to serve as a spokesperson, speaker, and Ambassador for cancer-related causes. An accomplished model, Christine began her career at the age of 11 in her hometown of St. Louis. Throughout her career, she has done campaigns for notable brands like Guess, J. Crew, JC Penney, Bud Light, Pepsi, Petco, and Target. In today's episode, Christine shares her “favorite mistake” story about “quitting” on herself and being afraid to ask for help while battling cancer. How did she manage to put aside pride and to learn to ask for help? Other topics and questions: What led to not wanting the help anymore? What turned you around? We believe we’re helping others by not asking for help Tell us about the book — Walk Beside Me — Why a fictionalization? Who would you want to play you in the movie that's being made? Jamie King Why does self-esteem need to be worked on every day? Why do you have to question authority? Find her on LinkedIn Instagram Twitter YouTube --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support

Author, CEO & Founder of The Creator Mindset, LLC. Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake88 My guest for Episode #88 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Nir Bashan, CEO & Founder of The Creator Mindset, LLC. Nir is a world-renowned creativity expert. He has taught thousands of leaders and individuals across the globe how to harness the power of creativity to improve profitability, increase sales and ultimately create more meaning in their work. Nir has worked on numerous albums, movies, and advertisements with famous actors and musicians ranging from Rod Stewart to Woody Harrelson. His work on creativity has won a Clio Award and was nominated for an Emmy. As founder and CEO of The Creator Mindset Consulting, his company produces workshops, consulting, coaching and keynote speaking engagements at conferences and corporate events. His clients include AT&T, Microsoft, Ace Hardware, NFL Network, EA Sports and jetBlue. His book The Creator Mindset: 92 Tools to Unlock the Secrets to Innovation, Growth, and Sustainability, which has been translated into two languages, was released worldwide by McGraw/Hill business in August of 2020. In today's episode, Nir shares his "favorite mistake," which involved his film production company that released a documentary film ("The Kitchen") that did well... but then went out of business. Why was it a problem to rest on their initial success? Why did it "work for a while" before "tanking"? Other topics and questions: Applying those lessons from your experience to your current business? Takeaway – “I don’t sell anything anymore” Why he does more listening now Can you have a process for being creative? It’s a tool to use, not a gift? Prof. Amy Edmondson, in her blurb for your book, makes reference to “using mistakes to learn fast” — tell us more about that… Look at the mistake in a positive way --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/favorite-mistake/support