When we think about large tech companies like Amazon, we tend to only think of their successes. We forget that for every major product that they've launched, there have been a few duds along the way.
In case you forgot, Amazon tried to launch a phone back in 2014 that was a complete disaster. They had a massive buildup to the launch, and within one year, they killed the project. That's just one of the major failures over their history, including Amazon Wallet, Amazon Destinations, Local Register, their book stores, Amazon Inspire, and Amazon Go, to name a few. If I told you there was a tech company that had fifty-plus major failures to its name, there is no way you would tell me it was Amazon.
But that is exactly where the problem exists for us as professionals. We tend to praise companies only for their successes, not for the risks they took that may have ultimately led to failure.
If you've been following me for a while, you know my stance on taking risks, but more importantly, the stance I take on not being afraid to take big swings and perhaps "fail" a few times.
One of the great things about Amazon is that they actually encourage this failure. They know that in order to change the world, you have to be willing to take some risks. That means ideating on products that could be a huge success or crash and burn in the first year.
Amazon isn't alone either.
Microsoft has had over 100+ product failures in its lifetime. Remember the Zune? Nobody does.
Google has killed over 200+ products. Remember Google Glass? It was way ahead of its time and too expensive, but if it were launched today, you'd be purchasing it.
Uber, Meta, Oracle, Apple, Cisco, NVIDIA, Samsung, auto manufacturers, the list goes on. Every major company that exists today has had a ton of so-called failures, and they're better as a result of it.
This mindset of not being afraid of failures allows you to be creative and to think big. If you're not afraid of failing, you're not afraid of taking big swings. If you're not afraid of taking big swings, you have an opportunity to achieve something big.
It's also important to note that not everything you touch is going to turn to gold. You're going to throw up a few losses along the way, but if you never attempt those big swings, you never get a chance to rely on your previous wins. The thing is, companies like Amazon can go through some of these failures because they have so many wins under their belt. They have built credibility, and I guarantee you have too.
So I decided to try something out and take a swing. On my website, I built an arcade page. It sounds silly, like, why would someone who does coaching build an arcade page? Well, the whole purpose was to create something that gave my audience a break from their day and still tied in some fun work humor along the way.
Big swing? Maybe not, but it's definitely an example of me putting myself out there to be judged and to be critiqued with something I created.
My arcade is a lead capture mechanism and a way to generate traffic that otherwise wouldn't come to my site. It's just simply a way to open the door to a new audience to read my content, play some games, and more.
The reality is that most ideas never look impressive when they first show up in the world. They look strange, unnecessary, or slightly ridiculous until someone spends enough time experimenting with them to figure out whether there is something real there. That is the entire point of trying things in the first place.
If every idea you put out into the world feels perfectly polished and completely safe, then chances are you are only operating inside a comfort zone that will never stretch your creativity or your reach. Sometimes the best thing you can do is ship the idea, let people react to it, and see where it goes from there.
So if you want to see what one of those little experiments looks like, head over to thescottbond.com/arcade and take a break for a few minutes.
Play a round of Buzzword Blitz, dodge a few meeting invites in Meeting Mayhem, or fight your way out of the office in Synergy Strike. Maybe it ends up being something people enjoy and share around the office, or maybe it ends up being one of my own little "failed experiments."
Either way, I am perfectly fine with that outcome, because the only real failure would have been never taking the swing in the first place.
At the end of the day, the reason companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google can afford to fail so often is that they understand something most professionals forget. Momentum comes from trying things. If you sit around waiting for the perfect idea, the perfect moment, or the perfect strategy, you will spend most of your career watching other people take the shots you were too cautious to attempt.
Progress rarely shows up wrapped in certainty. Most of the time, it arrives disguised as an experiment that might work or might completely fall apart.
That is really the whole point. Whether it is launching a new product, taking a new role, starting a project, or even building something a little ridiculous like an arcade page on a coaching website, the people who eventually stumble into the big wins are usually the ones who were willing to look a little foolish along the way. Some ideas will land, some will quietly disappear, but every swing teaches you something. And every once in a while, you connect on one that goes a whole lot further than you ever expected.