Success feeds on itself.

Last week my daughter got a new game for her Nintendo DS. It was a dreary day outside and so she spent nearly the whole day playing the game. By the end of the day, she had "beaten" the game. The next day, she "beat" the game about 3 more times. Each time she beat it faster than the last time and did a little better. Each success excited her a little more and fed her desire to try again and do a little better still.

This is a great illustration of how success can feed on itself in business too. Each time you close a deal, do a product release, hire a new employee or create a new partnership, you learn a little bit and hopefully you use that knowledge to do a little better and go a little faster the next time.

Visible successes can also be a great motivator for your company. If you've got the right people on your team, they have as much a desire to be part of an organization that succeeds and shows visible results as you do. As employees see the company starting to win and making progress, it helps to create a little more motivation and a little more enthusiasm. Once your employees see that what they are doing generates successes, they will continue to do it.

Of course, you've got to make sure that you are doing the right things to "win" whatever game it is that your company is playing. And you have to think about how you can "win" a little faster or do a little better each time.

Bertrand Russel said, "Most men would rather die, than think. Many do." You can't let your failures drive you into thoughtlessly reacting to try to create a success. If you find that there is something that you aren't doing well, maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Setting up a new task force or tiger team isn't likely to make your company good at something that it has repeatedly failed at.

Once you find what you do well, keep repeating it and do a little better each time. Make sure the results are visible to the rest of your company. Use the momentum and motivation that successes generate to drive more success.