Mindset, Grit & Failure
What does burning the boats actually mean in business?
Answered independently in 2 episodes, by 2 different people. Every line below is verbatim from the transcript, timestamped to the moment it was said.
The short answer
What the archive says
01The presence of a backup plan is often the exact thing that forces you to need one — burning the boats doesn't guarantee success, but not burning them guarantees failure. source →
02Opportunity arrives before the tipping point of evidence — like lightning before thunder — so the time to burn the boats is before everyone else can see the proof. source →
In their words
What 2 people actually said
Abu Dhabi, what makes Matt Higgins tick? I got a book behind me wrote a book about it, this idea of burning boats and commitment.
And then I figure out how to overcome my anxiety and just go all in. I mean, Matt, I don't want to oversimplify it. But when I think about what you just said, and I think about burning the boats, it's almost like if you have, if you have a plan B, you don't have a plan A.
The episodes
2 episodes answer this
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