There are literally hundreds of thousands of those hackneyed inspirational posters framed on the walls of corporate America. The ones with a photo of a sunrise, or a tree, or a fishing wire in the water. They have a big bolded buzz word at the top like PERSEVERANCE or CHARACTER. I’m surprised these are still around in the post-Office Space corporate world, but you still see them at certain places (usually at places that, ironically, lack many of these values).

1. Gerard Santinelli
Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
Gerard Santinelli's
Business Blog

2. There are literally hundreds of thousands of those hackneyed
inspirational posters framed on the walls of corporate America. The
ones with a photo of a sunrise, or a tree, or a fishing wire in the
water. They have a big bolded buzz word at the top like
PERSEVERANCE or CHARACTER. I’m surprised these are still
around in the post-Office Space corporate world, but you still see
them at certain places (usually at places that, ironically, lack many
of these values).
But I’m not here to hate on a business idea that only became
cliche because it was a brilliant and made millions before
becoming a predictable staple at offices everywhere. Most of the
values espoused on those posters relate to the most important
facet of business — handling failure.
Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
PERSEVERANCE… in the face of failure
CHARACTER… when the going gets tough
FAILURE… did you know Abraham Lincoln blah blah blah
I could go on. But handling failure really is everything in business,
which is exactly why it has born all those cliches. So let’s try to talk
about failure while avoiding the eye-rolling moments as best we
can. Here’s a simple 3 step methodology that has helped me
successfully back away and recover from failure.

3. Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
Step 1. Acknowledge The Situation You’re in
Self-deception can take many forms and this is nowhere more true
than in business. Us entrepreneurs like to occasionally pretend
that business is strictly a matter of cold hard facts and impersonal
balance sheets. There’s an element of truth to this of course but
you learn over a lifetime, particularly at the higher level of the
game, that many seemingly ironclad realities are really negotiable
items.
This is great news on the upside. There’s a world of fluid
opportunity awaiting the well-prepared entrepreneurial mind. On
the downside though, this can be deadly. It’s all too easy,
particularly as the pressure builds in a situation, to sell yourself and
others a version of the current or medium term outlook that’s little
more than wishful thinking.
Ernest Hemingway put it best back in The Sun Also Rises:
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

4. Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
Step one in pulling a situation back from the brink is looking it
squarely in the eye. This means putting aside your wishing and
hoping and writing down a full objective overview of where you
actually are. Not where you’d like to be. Where you are. Sales
pipeline, revenue, creditors, debtors, tax situation, staffing
concerns – everything. Get it down on paper.

5. Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
Step 2. Stop The Bleeding
There’s a clarity and relief that comes with taking Step 1. Once that
initial sensation fades though, it’s easy to fall victim to panic. You
can’t believe you let the situation get that out of hand. There’s a
million and one “urgent” things that need to be done and you’ve no
idea where to begin.
Take a tip from the emergency services. Before you get in there
and operate, stop the bleeding so you can see what the hell is
going on. Maybe it’s the massively swollen marketing budget that
hasn’t delivered provable leads in three quarters. Maybe it’s the
highly paid sales team that don’t seem to be bringing in enough to
even cover their wages but keep promising that one big deal is
around the corner.
It might sound crazy but literally picture yourself as your business.
Then say to yourself: Where am I bleeding? Found a spot?
Excellent, go fix it!
Once you’ve staunched that first problem, repeat the exercise and
move on to the next. What initially seemed like an intractable,
hydra-like mess will soon start being chopped down to size.

6. Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
Step 3. Make mistakes, once
We’ve all screwed up – some of us more than most! – and there’s
nothing the matter with making an honest mistake. Even the
simplest, smallest business has so much complexity and
uncertainty built in that some type of failure is inevitable along the
line.
It might sound crazy but literally
picture yourself as your business.
Then say to yourself: Where am I
bleeding? Found a spot? Excellent,
go fix it!
Once you’ve staunched that first
problem, repeat the exercise and
move on to the next. What initially
seemed like an intractable, hydra-
like mess will soon start being
chopped down to size.

7. Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli
No blame, no finger-pointing or recriminations – either with yourself
or others – just have a good think about how you avoid that
problem in the future. And write the answer down!
And the big secret? Once you’ve finished Step 3, you get right
back to work on Step 1!
Acknowledge The Situation You’re in
Stop The Bleeding
Make Mistakes, Once
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
The question is not: How do I never make a mistake? The question
is: How do I not make the same mistake twice?
As you move through the previous two steps, you’ll be facing the
snafus your former actions created head-on. It can be a very
frustrating process. Don’t get angry, just get it done. But, crucially,
once each problem area has been resolved, honestly ask yourself
one further question: How do I make sure this doesn’t happen
again?

8. Thanks!Thanks!- Gerard Santinelli
Gerard Santinelli
Hit A Brick Wall With Your Business?
Here’s 3 Solid Steps To Getting Unstuck
- Gerard Santinelli