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FROM THE FOUNDER
Failure is not good!
Don’t take a cavalier attitude toward potential disaster, but recognize that experimentation is essential for building a growing, successful company.
I have had some thoughts recently that I wanted to get out there. One of my pet peeves is the constant talk on podcasts or articles I see about how great it is to fail. “Fail early, fail often.” I always take exception to that. My goal both here and as a teacher at the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas is to help our readers and my students NOT fail. Failure is expensive! You can ruin your credit and your reputation. And it can be devastating to your psyche. Not to mention you will also probably hurt other people who lose their jobs or don’t get paid.
Mark Zweig
“But we learn more from our failures than we do our successes,” you might say. Sure – you can learn a lot from failure, but it’s awful. Learn from the mistakes of others so you don’t fail. Besides that, I also prefer living by the mantra that, “If you never give up, you will never fail.” That said, what I really think many of the “failure advocates” (for lack of a better term) are really saying is, “Don’t be afraid to experiment.” Experiments that don’t work out – as long as you don’t bet the entire farm at once – are not “failures.” These are just things you tried that didn’t get the results you needed so you pulled the plug on it. And experiments ARE necessary if you want to run a growing, successful company that evolves over time.
You may be asking, “What kind of experiments?” In an AEC firm context, many come to mind. First and foremost, experiments in marketing. What are you trying there that you didn’t do before? Are there any new tactics? Using AI for different website experiences based on what a specific visitor is interested in? Being much, much more active with your email program? Doing a podcast or video series? Doing weekly messages from your CEO on video that you share on social media? Trying out a new working visibility program with wrapped or branded company vehicles and better signage? Having a manned 24-hour “hot line” for clients to call who are
See MARK ZWEIG , page 6
THE ZWEIG LETTER OCTOBER 6, 2025, ISSUE 1604
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