Business Prowess – You Can Only Move Up if You Can Carry a Failing Team

As I recall, Chairman Baek Jong-won notes in his book that you should go work at a failing business to learn everything you can on their dime before starting your own business. He remarks that you should try everything in your power to salvage a failing business and only visit thriving stores so that their good luck rubs off on you.

He says this because salvaging a failing business can be considered your own achievement but improving an already successful business cannot be claimed as your own success. That’s why Chairman Baek recognizes the opportunity to work for a failing business as an invaluable opportunity to learn how to run a business on another person’s dime.

I often see many players in games like OverWatch and League of Legends that always play the blame game, blaming everyone and everything but themselves for losing. They’re always bemoaning that they shouldn’t be at whatever rank they’re at and that they’re being held down by whatever else. A player’s rank is held stable when their win rate is at 50%. People who believe they win when they’re assigned good teammates and lose when they’re stuck with bad teammates are at their appropriate ranks.

You can only move up the ranks if you can carry the team despite your team’s mistakes. Finding enlightenment and raising your win rate to 55~60% regardless of who’s on your team will bump your rank up until you meet stronger opponents.

It’s really a shame that some people gripe and complain about their jobs so often. People complain about their company, how they’re managed, and about their mediocre peers.

An individual’s current state reflects the life they’ve led so far and a cumulation of the choices they’ve made. No one is forcing anyone to stay where they’re at right now. There’s not a single legal regulation out there in today’s society that oppresses your right to choose who you work for.

I consider what it is that I can do, before nitpicking over what I can receive. Businesses are fundamentally structured so that only those that can achieve good results with a limited amount of resources survive. Achieving good results by spending an overabundant amount of funding and hiring only the best employees is relatively easy. But these things alone do not give you a competitive edge.

Is the co-worker sitting next to you incompetent? Then try teaching them new things. Does your boss frustrate you? Then create a setting where you can have a frank, sincere one-on-one conversation about the situation.

Whether you decide to improve yourself, leave, or even remain where you’re at, these are all neither good nor bad choices. If you’ve decided to settle for where you’re currently at, you just need to be content with what you have.

Have you spent countless hours and resources improving yourself but are worried your organization won’t recognize your achievements?

Salvaging a failing restaurant won’t necessarily entail an eternally grateful restaurant owner and secure you an even greater reward. The world doesn’t always work out like that. It’s more than likely that the restaurant owner will take credit for reviving the dying store but blame you if it fails.

But there’s no need to fear this. If you’re the real deal, then all you need to do is find another organization that recognizes your talents. Or you could even create your own organization. Our greatest fear should stem from the possibility that today will remain the same as yesterday, with no growth.