Richard Branson on Screwing It!
I just finished reading Richard Branson's quick book, "Screw It, Let's Do It". I know, it's 10 years old but I figured that we can learn something from it in 2016 as we could in 2006. I was right. I would like to share his life's lessons in this post, but before I do that, I would just like to comment on his haphazard writing style. There didn't seem to be a logical flow, and he repeats himself several times throughout the book. He sometimes has an illogical time jump, going back in time, and then jumping on ahead again. Reading his book seems very much like meeting him in person - he is jumping all over the place and you cannot really pin him down. His writing reflects him, and that is what I like about the book. It is authentic. Now on to Richard Branson's life lessons:
Just do it
Think yes, not no
Challenge yourself
Have goals
Have fun
Make a difference
Stand on your own feet
Be loyal
Live life to the full
Let me expound on these by taking reference to Branson's stories, and peppering with my own reflection...
1. Just do it
One thing that characterises Richard Branson is his "Never Say Die" attitude and his love of a challenge. (We shall talk about challenge shortly). What strikes me about Branson is his knack to take huge risks and still come on top of it. Some people may think he is foolhardy, others think he is mad; but he has this huge confidence in himself that was developed when he was very young by his mother who always told him, "Ricky, just do it!" Never one for crying over spilt milk, his mother had taught him the very valuable lesson of going out there and trying new things. After all, you will never learn anything if you don't try. So while Nike may have copyrighted the phrase, Branson has been living "Just Do It" long before they did.
Reflection: Sometimes we can get beside ourself just thinking about everything that can go wrong with an idea, and we stop trying. There is only one way to really find out if an idea works or not, and we need to set aside our nagging fears and Just Do It!
2. Think yes, not no
Branson shared that he is the consummate "Yes Man" of Virgin Group. And that is because he keeps on going "Yes, let's try it" rather than "No, it cannot be done because..." Countless times he went on death defying balloon adventures because he couldn't say no! His good friend and flying partner Per Lindstrand would call him on a whim to try to break record after record, and Branson, kept on saying "Yes!" But while he did that, he also didn't take things lightly. In 1984, when Virgin was approached to sponsor a powerboat for the Blue Riband prize for Britain (the race was to cross the Atlantic in the fastest time), not only did Branson say yes, but he also volunteered to be a member of the team, not realising what it meant. However he trained very hard with the team and learnt what had to be done before the race. It normally took people years to reach this point, but Branson did it in weeks. Unfortunately they didn't succeed that time, but 6 years later, Branson and his team returned to win the prize!
Reflection: While Branson always said "yes", he also always backed it up with detailed planning. On the day he won the Blue Riband, Lindstrand invited Branson to fly the balloon with him back across the Atlantic, and again he said Yes! But he backed it up with a lot of training and planning, and he became a very accomplished balloonist very quickly. Say yes, but back that up with rigorous thinking and planning!
3. Challenge yourself
Branson was always going one-up on himself. This started out when he was young, first in trying to learn to swim. He was challenged by his Aunty Joyce when he was a young boy to learn to swim on his own within a weekend by the sea, or he would lose a bet. Branson would not give up, and even while they were on their way back from the ocean, seemingly having lost the bet, Branson chanced on a river and challenged himself to swim one last time, forcing the family to stop the car by the side. Even in the rapid flow of water, Branson challenged himself to swim, and he did, winning the bet. Branson was also not a good student, but that was due to his dyslexia, which no one knew about at the time. Because of this learning difficulty, he challenged himself to memorise his work, and write things down in a notebook. While he did not end up a scholar, it had given him a useful boost when he started business because of his prolific memory.
Reflection: If we continuously remain in our comfort zone, we will never get better. By challenging ourselves, doing more, learning more, failing more and achieving more, we will outpace ourselves. We must always challenge ourselves to be better than we were yesterday.
4. Have goals
There's a funny thing about goals... they can sometimes take you to places you don't expect. In 1977, Branson went to Jamaica on a part-holiday part-work basis. He was scouting for new talent to sign with Virgin Music and found some very good bands. Because contracts were not accepted in the island at that time, and he had to sign the bands