Greg’s Daily Thoughts

I was happy to come across this post from Anthony Tjan (CEO of Cue Ball) on the Harvard Business publishing site. Vulnerability is not a trait that naturally comes to mind when you think of an entrepreneur. We think of risk taking, renegade behaviour, and wild creativity. Anthony says there's a difference between passive and active vulnerability...

The nuance lies in the type of vulnerability that they have and their recognition and comfort with it. Let's be clear: there is a vital difference between what I call passive and active vulnerability. Passive vulnerability refers to the condition of being vulnerable without choosing to be. Active vulnerability comes from engaging in a contemplated risk that considers and hopes for the payoff, financial or otherwise will be worth the effort. Active vulnerability is in essence proactive and informed risk-taking. Passive vulnerability is reactive and submissive exposure.

Living with failure is part of being actively vulnerable. We have heard of Edison's famous quote "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work".

I've always thought of that type of mindset as gutsy and visionary. Reading this post by Anthony Tjan (Twitter link) I've learned it also involves active vulnerability.

The story of how inventor James Dyson went through 5127 prototypes and 5126 "failures" to get his massively successful vacuum cleaner "right" is the stuff of entrepreneurial legend. Dyson was fond of saying that the inventor and entrepreneur's life is one of failure. Embracing vulnerability and its rewards — whether those are lessons from failed efforts or life-changing (even world-changing) success — that's the stuff of great entrepreneurs.

How does this idea of active vulnerability make you feel?