Judgment and experience

Last night, I heard the best quote about judgment and experience that has ever reached my ears. It went like this: “Good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment.”

The quote is attributed to Nasreddin, a 13th century Sufi and it made so much sense that it literally stopped me in my tracks. I can relate to it entirely, as it has been the live force behind my entire education.

While some first time, inexperienced entrepreneurs might be the exception that confirm the rule (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg among others), I remain convinced that for most of us, we learn the most when we screw-up, as long as we are willing and able to use the experience we learned in this fashion.