By Zaf Sedat
USING THE FORCE
Every year on the 4th of May, fans worldwide celebrate Star Wars Day, with the pun ‘May the fourth be with you’ coming from the successful catchphrase from the series.
You may have never considered it, but business and Star Wars are similar in many ways.
If you think about it, you can see the Rebel Alliance as a small business in a world where the larger corporations rule. The Empire has power and resources while the Alliance has to depend on other things. As we start a new business most of us have only ourselves to depend on and we don’t have a lot of resources or power.
Here are some of the things start-ups and companies can learn from the Star Wars universe.
Believe in yourself
Star Wars fans out there will remember when Luke Skywalker was in the murky swamp with Yoda and he struggled with accepting that he had the Force within him. As long as he didn’t truly believe in himself, he couldn’t succeed.
The same goes for you and your start-up. You have to believe you have the Force, the power to start a business and to make a difference.
Luke was raised by kind people, but he didn’t know who he was and what his potential was and the same goes for a lot of us. We meander about in life not knowing truly who we are and what we are able to achieve.
But when we start believing in ourselves great things can happen. As with Luke when he lifted the X-Wing out of the swamp.
Know your strengths and weaknesses
Luke Skywalker is emotional but “the force is strong.”
The Emperor was clever but didn’t understand the power of paternal love.
Princess Leia is clever but sometimes reckless.
When we start a business, it is wise to evaluate where your strengths lie. Sometimes it might take a while to truly understand yourself but when we do it will help us in our start-ups or new business by teaching us how to avoid mistakes. The Galactic Empire saw only their own strengths and not their weaknesses and, in the end, they were defeated.
Don’t join the dark side
Celebrate uniqueness
Customers, clients and employees bring their own skill to the business. To grow a business, we need to accept and celebrate this.
Don’t build a Death Star!!
It’s vital to be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. You should always consider alternatives to your course of action and develop multiple plans for achieving particular goals in case your plans don’t pan out. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If an approach doesn’t seem to work, change direction.
Accept failure and learn from your mistakes
What did everybody learn from Darth Vader’s punishment of Admiral Ozzel? No one will ever give any suggestions and will be afraid of telling the leader anything for fear of making a mistake. And also, that if your superior fails, you will be promoted.
Have clear vision for your goal
If you know what your goal is, you will be able to inspire others to join you. The goals of the Rebel Alliance were simple, powerful and straightforward: Bring down the Galactic Empire, restore the Republic, and give people back their individual freedoms. How clear are yours?
Just do it!
Yoda says it better than anyone. “Do. Or do not. There is no Try.”
We often say; I will try. But as Yoda says maybe there is no try. Maybe we should just do it or not do it. Instead of using energy for countless tries we should just go ahead and do it, regardless of whether we are sure we are capable. Sometimes, I get the feeling we use the expression “I will try” as an excuse to not do our best. When we just go ahead and do it, we will have the opportunity to either succeed or fail. If we succeed, we will be joyous and if we fail, we will learn from our mistakes.
Use the Force
Believe all humans carry a Force inside. This Force is what keeps us going when things are tough. To start a new business is not easy and you will have more than one moment when you wonder if this ever will work. You will have moments when you consider quitting what you have started.
When you feel like this, you should reach inside yourself and use your Force to keep going.
