Making Mistakes

Making mistakes is all part of doing business.  Just ask Louis B. Mayer and Frank Capra.

Mayer, who built one of the greatest Hollywood studios ever – Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) – turned down Walt Disney when the young, struggling Walt came to him with an idea of making a movie about a mouse.  Mayer said women were afraid of mice, and that no one would ever pay money to see a film about them.

Frank Capra, the legendary movie director of It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, turned down a friend’s request to cast a then struggling actor because he didn’t think she was anything special.  Marilyn Monroe went on to become a big star.

You might say these were colossal blunders.

How can people who make such big mistakes be so successful?  They did a lot right, too.

There is nothing wrong in making mistakes.  If you are going to make things happen, you will litter the ground with mistakes.  It is part of the process.  The successful people do not let the mistakes hurt them, they just keep moving forward.