I’m reading from Good to Great by Jim Collins and came across “Confronting Brutal Facts.”
Years ago, our team discovered an innovative technology solution. It promised to transform our clients’ ability to engage prospective customers.
Specifically, this solution enabled sending personalized by name, physical mail—automated handwritten cards in our case—to anonymous website visitors. These visitors would not need to fill out a form or identify themselves in any way.
We immediately dove into the technical viability and it turned out, we could indeed do it. It was like magic.
We even had a client with money in hand, ready to be the first customer!
It was a slam dunk.
We had a sale before we even productized the service and it showed plenty of promise, complementing our current products and services.
Thankfully, our team benefits from a CEO with a vigilant eye, always erring on the side of caution. He is meticulous when reading the fine print in all contracts to safeguard us and our clients’ interests.
Our CEO pointed out a single sentence buried within their terms of service (12 pages in a Word Doc). He asked, “Why would the provider have indemnification (essentially not held legally liable) for using their data in the way they suggested we use it?”
This was the thread—a needle in a haystack—that unraveled the entire opportunity.
After some back-and-forth questioning, the idea became more concerning.
Our initial rose-colored glasses began fracturing as we further considered the privacy implications, originally comparing it to the common practice of remarketing.
We researched further and found that another company was in the middle of a lawsuit for offering similar services.
Our teammates started out pumped for such a cutting-edge offering. A technology that our customers wanted and could improve their lead engagement. We immediately realized it was now a no-go.
Confronting the Brutal Facts:
It’s hard confronting brutal facts.
When they go against something you see as a benefit. Something that appears good for the client and good for your company.
It’s even harder to look for those brutal facts when they aren’t immediately obvious.
It takes great courage, experience, forward-thinking, you name it, to even question something that looks like a huge win.
We passed up on a lot of short-term money that day. But, the ability to look for and confront brutal facts is a recipe for long-term success and longevity in business, including partnerships.
This is something that sticks with me, both in business and in my personal life.
Read contracts and ask “Why?” Don’t be afraid of what you might find. Even if it goes against your immediate goals. It just may save you in the long run.
Have you ever narrowly avoided disaster by pulling at threads of what seemed to be a great idea?
