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Every Disaster is an Opportunity

"In armed struggle, the difficulty is turning the circuitous into the direct, and turning adversity into advantage." Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”, originally written for strategists in ancient China, is now required reading at renowned business colleges around the world. Several very insightful translations now help the contemporary business leader master Sun Tzu’s methods and apply his theories to the business battlefield.

In the pursuit of success, there are failures and set-backs. Every failure certainly contains lessons that can become part of future successes; however, I’m not a proponent of losing easily! Let’s face it, losing sucks! The only way to take real value from failure is to learn from it. The only way to succeed is to overcome these inevitable failures.

The difference between success and failure is usually whether or not you look at a particular failure as an end, or a beginning. You never have to accept any failure as the end. As Sun Tzu said in the passage I quoted, turning adversity into advantage is difficult. That’s how leaders are tempered through adversity and failures while others melt when the heat is turned up.

Have you ever seen the movie, “Apollo 13”? Some of us are old enough to remember the actual events! Here’s a quick excerpt from my book, “Dynamic Components of Personal Power”…

“The Apollo 13 astronauts faced nearly insurmountable odds when their spacecraft exploded. They were losing oxygen and electrical power. They had no heat, little light to work by and had to fly most of the mission without a guidance computer.
“As the situation reached the darkest hours, Flight Director Gene Krantz assembled his team and gave them his directive:

“Failure is not an option!”

If Gene Krantz was not a student of Sun Tzu, he certainly could’ve been. People who are unwilling to lead, in business or in personal life, are often those who quit when faced with adversity. Leaders are those who look at disaster and find opportunities to excel. Krantz led his team to ultimate success despite several very serious failures. Many reasonable people might have accepted any of these serious failures as the end of the mission.

Krantz kept his team focused on the straight line to success and the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew.

In my martial arts training I was taught that when “Knocked down seven times, get up eight.” When knocked to the ground, you can look at the fight from a new angle and see a new set of targets. The important thing is to keep fighting and keep getting up!

As we’re out there trying to create success we are, from time to time, going to fail. We never have to accept any single failure as the end. Ultimately…

“Failure is not an option” and every disaster is an opportunity!

If you have a story of adversity turned into opportunity...please post it as a Comment! Your experience may validate or inspire others to succeed in the face of failure!

GRATITUDE:
The translation of Sun Tzu is used by permission of Sonshi.com. You can subscribe to a complete on-line course in the application of “The Art of War” for business at www.Sonshi.com.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
My book, “Dynamic Components of Personal Power” is now available on-line at my web site, www.JimBouchard.com.

Special volume discounts are available to businesses and organizations. I am also available for seminars and speaking opportunities to share the Dynamic Components in your workplace.

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