Michael Port, author of “Book Yourself Solid” and “Beyond Booked Solid” Posted This video yesterday on Facebook.
I agree with the video for the most part. Business cards are stupid. (I often have none) You have my email address. That is how we got here in the first place.
True the Video is funny. Yet, could it harm your psyche?
Then, I went a little further in to see what this site was about. It pokes fun at the Startup Culture
Here is another Vooza.com Video mocks failing
Here is the Trick of Online Snark. It seems like a Treat.
These videos easily can do more harm than good. Why? While addressing some glaring issues, these videos, and snark in general, can undermine your self confidence. Sure it’s funny because it’s true in a way. Funny, reposted snark, allows self doubt to creep in. These videos lay that grain of sand that once irritated becomes the beautiful, mesmerizing pearl of inaction.
There is a Razor Blade in Vooza’s Candy
Humor like this is great if you carry the power to completely prevent the “razor blade in the candy” known as self doubt. Here is the rub. If you just said, “I have no self doubt in what I am doing”, you are lying to yourself or not doing something important enough. Read about Self Doubt and Resistance Stories from the greatest in books like Scott Jurek’s “Eat and Run” and Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art“.
“Fail often” still isn’t cool
I have been hearing from the Millennial generation that you have to do something cool and sexy, and not care about being successful. All of your friends should approve of what you do. I also get the impression from my clients that they care too much about what their peers think. I have had attorneys ask me about their logo and reference what other attorneys will think. Failure in the eyes of your peers, is not failure at all, the focus must be on what works for your business.
Yes, “Fail often” has become an overused mantra in a way. What it says, in a more concise manner is this idea “Try often, don’t care what others think unless they are your customers, and if it does not work, you learned a way it does not work, so try something else until you get it right because what you are working on inspires you” but while some of the meaning gets lost, Fail Often makes for a better headline.
It’s too easy to take the idea from the Vooza.com videos that “Man, they are right, why I am doing is poop. I should get a real job.”
A little Ironic Treat from Vooza.com
The irony in making fun of the “Fail Often” skit comes in considering what it probably took to make that video. How many takes? How many rewrites?
Here is what did not happen.
The two actors in Vooza.com’s skit were working in a startup. One morning over coffee, the two guys in the video were having coffee, making fun of their coworkers, and decided to make a video. That afternoon they went out and bought a video camera, shot this video. That night they made a website. The next day the video went viral, so they made 20 more that weekend and now are rolling in money.
What probably happened is a great story of failure and more failure and then some funny videos.
The Real Treat from the Vooza.com Videos
The humor in these videos provide an opportunity. You can learn to exchange business cards more effectively. Add a real story in there. Are you really lazy? I doubt it if you have read this far.
These videos can provide you an opportunity because You can allow your competition to quit failing. You can even use the vooza.com to fuel your fire against The Snark, The Resistance, The Lizard Brain, The Blerch .
Do not let snark into your brain. Snark destroys creativity. It may be the tool of great comedians and critics, but there is little place for it in business and without the proper defenses it can ruin you.
Laugh at the the snark. Pull the truth from the snark. Make the snark work for you. Grab your treat in the online world of tricks.
And guard your Psyche. It’s the only one you’ve got.