5 steps to get into the 'Start Up' state of mind

It has been a strange week. Failure and despair surrounding us. Shopping malls and  coffee shops attacked. Drug trials failing with rather tragic consequences. Stock markets taking a dive. Fixed deposit interest rates are dropping and certain Rs 1000 notes don’t seem to hold much value.

For employees, it has not been a pleasant phase either. Job redundancies and layoffs are now common. There are hushed whispers referring to the formation of the start-up bubble.

On the other hand, there has been a refreshing new debate on start-ups. Incubators and tax-breaks are grabbing the headlines. Sexy talks on business models, investment decks, elevator pitches, first-second-third round funding are being quoted like George Bernard Shaw in a literary event.

Let’s move away from that, and dive into the mental make-up of being a start-up.

I meet so many people from start-ups every week. They could be owners or just employees. It is really energising. Their days go by struggling to get funding. Struggling to get employees to work for them. Struggling to get customers to believe in them. It is hard even to rent an affordable space or, for that matter, get a reliable vendor. Once you have these sorted, the small task of invoice collections from customers and, then bad debts. 

For the first time in their life, they cope with the alien concept of failure.

Occasionally I come across young business owners on the verge of default and bankruptcy, looking for a chance to start-up again. Wondering whether they were right. On the other hand, I meet established business owners/leaders, whose businesses are in tough business turbulence. They hope to reignite a start-up culture within their organisation.

Start-ups are not differentiated by energy or creativity— I meet as many energetic and disillusioned leaders in start-ups as in leading large businesses. Neither is a start-up about pursuing a purpose and meaning. Some start-ups are driven by “make my first million by the time I am 30” dream, as are traditional large organisations. The drive for wealth and fame seem to be common.

The age of your company does not matter… AT ALL! After all, we all know, age is in the mind.

Here is my take. Start-ups are a state of mind. A state of mind, where there are more days of failure than success. Each typical day has more tears than celebration.

It is knowing, you can make a huge difference, and thriving despite incessant failure.

The ability to keenly interpret and derive deep, forward-looking meaning out of the mental scars. That is the start-up state of mind.

Organisations and leaders who learn the science of being in a constant start-up/restart-up mode will thrive.

You could be working in an established company, but have been transferred to an ailing branch. You have a chance of a “start-up”, to try something nobody has ever tried. You could be asked to take over a struggling team. You need a start-up mindset.

You could have an idea for a project in your company, which can save money or make it easier for customers to do business with you. You are seeking sponsors and backers. That is totally a start-up.

Of course, you could even start a paan parlour, or a bakery with a cause or an at-home physiotherapy business or a stand-alone yoga instruction venture. That is a start-up.

If you can get your head in that state of mind, to thrive in the negativity of failure, then start-ups are in your karma. Grab it.

You will cease to be a start-up when you give up the start-up mindset, of thriving from and on failure. It could happen, in one month, one year or one decade or never.

Start-ups thrive on negativity.

I always tell people, I am beginning to enjoy negativity. Why, even history shows civil rights and freedom movements across the world to have taken shape from negativity. But then in this negativity, is born, hope.

Great inventions reach fruition when immersed in deep negativity. Inventors face years of frustration while inventing airplanes, the Large Hadron Collider, autonomously driven cars, combustion or automotive or hybrid engines.

Hope may sound like a warm, fuzzy, philosophical concept but it is an exact science.

So what exactly is the science of hope?

Think about it. When did you last experience hope? It would have been when you had just faced failure. Maybe it was rejection or a loss. Maybe it was being disappointed at an outcome or being frustrated by someone.

It is interesting that hope was discovered as a construct when scientist Richard Snyder was studying how people distance themselves from mistakes and failures by making excuses. He found that hope was on the other side of the spectrum of making excuses. Later, Richard Snyder and Shane Lopez developed the Hope Theory and, then, a very interesting Hope Scale.

The first of the three constructs was the presence of a clear goal. The second was a self-belief that you will act towards your goal. The third was an understanding that failure is a natural life process. That you had anticipated failure, and, therefore a belief that you can find a way around the obstacles in your path, or find “pathways”.

What happens when you fail?

There could be anger, at your dreams, ideals, beliefs and values being transgressed. Disappointment that a business proposition is being rejected. Embarrassment that you are failing when it seems others get it so easily. Confusion or a lack of clarity on the way forward. Maybe even low self-worth, a sense that you are not good enough. Regret that your legacy is a non-starter.

So what do you do? How do you get back into the Start-Up State of Mind?

First let’s explore why negativity leads to thriving.

Faced with failure, we could begin a downward spiral of emotions. It could range from doubting our capabilities to being overly critical and not being able to critique our own actions. Sometimes, we resort to blaming others for our bad luck (“I was outpriced”). The most popular step is leaving blame at the doorstep of fate, the economy, weather, disease, destiny and God.

To be a successful start-up, you need leadership to generate a desire to achieve more. Hope gives you the space to (re)start-up. In the darkest shades of despair, all you need is a sliver of hope.

Hope is not a denial of reality, but the pursuit of possibility through belief and pathways.

Hope is not about ignoring reality. You do not ignore the facts. You simply acknowledge that you want to change the reality.

Hope is a belief that you can create a new possibility and that you can change your reality.

It is a belief, which momentarily allows you to look at a range of possibilities. It helps you explore what you thought was impossible. Barbara Fredrickson calls them tiny engines of positive emotions. It nudges you towards finding a creative solution.

So how does the science of hope come into play here? Before that allow me a little literary license to quote the wisdom of Shylock

Shylock in 'The Merchant of Venice'

The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

That is what it is about. Learn from Shylock and get down to “bettering the instruction”.

So how do you build hope for your start-up?

The five steps—Stop, Think, Affinity, Reconnect, Tank up—neatly fit into the acronym S.T.A.R.T.

1. Stop!

Simply stop what you are doing. Scientists have proven, when you stop thinking of a problem and stop obsessing over it, it increases your chances of finding a solution. Sometimes we become so obsessed with the problem at hand, that all we need to do is break the pattern. So do something small but different.

Take a fifteen-minute break. Go out for a small stroll. If you can get time for exercise, that will be even better. It will leave you with more energy. If you have a hobby, now is the time to indulge in it.

Even if you are in crisis, it does not stop you from committing a few acts of kindness yourself.  It will take the focus of yourself and direct it to do good for someone else.  It gives you the confidence that in the midst of a crisis, you can make someone else happy.

2. Think: When are you and your colleagues at your best?

Carol Dweck suggests think of a lesson you have learned from your mistakes.

Think of a few things in which you have really improved. Have your experiences prepared you well for life?

Think of a time, in your past, when you:

—Met your goals. What did you do?

—Physically yearned for something better to happen?

—Had to be at your best.

—Overcame huge obstacles.

—Were insanely creative. What was the solution?

When faced with an almost certain failure, you would have simply believed that you could turn things around, and perhaps actually did. How did that feel? What were the strengths that you used? Do you usually find solutions to your problems?

3. Affinity: Seek help

Maybe you are expected to know everything. We do put this strange and unrealistic burden on leaders as a “solver of all our problems”. But there is someone out there, who has already been through this. Think of someone who can help you out. Someone you can talk to or who you can take guidance from?

If you are facing a crisis of a dreaded health issue like cancer, seek help from cancer survivors. If your sales supervisor has given you the final warning, talk to people who have been longer in the system on some tips. They will be more than willing to help.

By and large, people want to help. Unless you have been a jerk, in which case start with a genuine apology. BUT SEEK HELP! Make a few phone calls. Send out a few emails.

4 .Reconnect – with the purpose

A lot of people try explaining the business model. I ask them a different question. I ask them, what is the big problem that you are trying to solve? Has that problem gone away from the face of this earth? If it has, then you and your business don’t have a hope in hell.

People laugh and say, from all accounts the problem has increased. Well, if the market has increased, your purpose is still relevant. So connect the reason of your negativity with your purpose.

5. Tank up from a deep reservoir of strengths

Maybe your horse has wandered too far from the reservoir of strengths. Do not run on an empty tank. Bring your horse or jeep back to tank up. Use the strengths and find a way of taking the first step.

I think this is where employees in start-ups excel. They fall back on their strengths. They put in that extra joule of energy into their wisdom or courage. Maybe they add some zest to their virtues of temperance or transcendence. Maybe they demonstrate their social intelligence and leadership to appeal to their followers.

Positive Psychology researcher and master instructor, Robert Biswas-Diener, says that “trying new things and taking risks come not just with the possibility of failure, but the assurance of failure. While failure always leaves a bad taste in the mouth, it can provide new insights about strategies that work and those that do not”.

Tank up on your strengths before you charge back. Like a smart adventurer, ensure your hatchet is sharp enough to help you hack through the dense jungles of your business environment.

To conclude, here are the immortal words of the Swedish pop group, ABBA and their song, ‘Chiquitita’, which was released on January 16, 1979.

Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong
You're enchained by your own sorrow
In your eyes there is no hope for tomorrow
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I'm a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now I see you've broken a feather
I hope we can patch it up together

Then the music takes off.

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

Start-ups are not only for businesses. It is about life. It is about the widow whose husband passed away, who has to now fend for herself. It is about a family, whose loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s or is in a coma. It is about the kid who fails in Class IV. It is about the kid whose French teacher says, you will never learn the language. It is about the copywriter whose motivation to write a copy has momentarily faded. It is about political parties who want to forge a legacy.

Start-up is about singing a new song. It is about knowing that the sky is still shining and that you still have one more chance. It is about knowing that heartaches are a part of life. More importantly, the scars are really a reference to learning.

Hope is a natural process of life for a start-up. It is the play between what you want to create (goals), your beliefs (in yourself and others) and the pathways (to manoeuvre around failure/obstacles) you create.

Start-ups are for everyone. Everyone’s life is a nourishing start-up.

The author is the Founder of The Positivity Company. Last week, he failed miserably at trying to get hotter. This week, he is going to S.T.A.R.T. He can be reached at birender.ahluwalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at B_Ahluwalia.