Small Business Lessons Learned from the Penn State Fiasco
Posted by
Todd Smith on Fri, Nov 11, 2011 @ 08:31 AM
I grew up in York, PA not all that far from State College and Penn State University. As a kid, I idolized players like Todd Blackledge and Kurt Warner and spent many an afternoon playing pickup football games in backyards around the neighborhood, which was huge fun, although generally pretty rough with scraped knees, bloody lips, and an occasional dislocation of something or other. I can recall huddling up in a clubhouse or tree fort listening intently to games on a little transistor radio, then running out at halftime to replay the first half in live action.
Although I ended up attending Clemson, Penn State never left my heart, and I've also followed them closely as my "#2" team. So, like millions of other athletes, fans, students, and alumni, recent events have been extremely painful, and I have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about the entire fiasco, even lying awake at night. 
As I've reflected on this tragic situation, there are several important lessons that leap out at me that I think we can use in the business world and for life in general:
First, don't try to sweep issues or problems under the rug and hope they'll go away. Invariably, they're going to come back and bite you in the butt with much more ferocity than if you had dealt with them in the first place. So many people have the "don't deal with it and maybe it'll go away" mentality, and as we've seen, it can have disastrous consequences.
The second, and perhaps most poignant, is that if you're faced with a huge crisis, swift and decisive action is critical. While I don't like what happened, I have to tip my cap to PSU's Board of Trustees - they took the bull by the horns and did what had to be done, and while the jury is still out on all of the fallout from this mess, I'm quite certain that the actions taken this week will at least stem the tide of negativity and help a great institution move in a new and more positive direction.
So whether you're just starting a business and working on your business plan, or you're strategically building an existing business, these are some lessons to take to heart.
WE ARE!
Todd Smith, CEO
Blue Horizon Venture Consulting
www.BlueHorizonVC.com