Have you ever felt guilty of making mistakes? Have you ever criticized yourself because of the mistakes you committed?
Have you ever regretted about the mistakes you did and just wished that someway you could have avoided it?
Have you ever told yourself – “How could I do such a blunder?”
“I wish I could go back in time and rectify my mistake.” I wish I could have…..
Relax, you are not alone. We all make mistakes.
Here are 5 BIG mistakes made by some of the biggest names in the history:
1. Coca Cola turned down the offer to buy Pepsi
Coca-Cola Company was offered to buy a bankrupt soft drink company called Loft Inc. Loft Inc’s then owner, Charles Guth, was willing to sell his company for a mere $1000. Coca-Cola turned down the offer, and missed the chance to take over the company which eventually became Pepsi-Cola.
2. Henry Ford forgot to put reverse gear in the first car he built.
Imagine, a car without a reverse gear!!!
Though, Ford later realized the mistake and corrected it in the next versions of cars they launched.
3. IBM misjudged the need of Personal Computers.
In 1943, IBM chairman Thomson J Watson said: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
I would not have written this article and you would not have been reading this article if the above judgment would have resulted to be true.
4. Microsoft underestimated the Power of Apple I-phone while creating Microsoft Zune
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, said in 2007 in an interview with USA Today: “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.”
In 2008, 8 million iPhones were manufactured. In two years, Zune sold about 2 million units whereas Apple sells about 10 million per quarter.
5. Yahoo resisted 44 billion $ buyout from Microsoft
It is believed that CEO of Yahoo in 2009 – Yang does regret resisting a $44 billion buyout from Microsoft. Some people also believe that this decision led to his ouster as CEO from Yahoo.
So, why are we discussing the mistakes and blunders of such big companies? There are a lot of experienced and skilled people involved in the decision making of a company. And if the decision is bigger, more thoughts are given to it before taking a final action.
If big companies can make mistakes; If people with high experience and excellent skill set can make mistakes. So can you and me. Let’s accept it.
There is no point regretting about the mistakes we made. There is just no point feeling bad about them. We can not bring back past. After all, Time machine has not been invented yet and we can not go back in time to rectify all that we have done.
So, what do we do? Don’t you think it would be a good idea if we try to learn from our mistakes rather than repenting about them? There is always a positive side to everything. Don’t you think it would be a good idea if we look at the positive side of our mistakes?
Think about it, I would love to know your opinion…..
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh really.
I did not know coca cola could buy pepsi. pepsi is the best. I love both of them though.
Hi Herman,
Even I like Pepsi more than coca cola, but I did some research on net and it shows that globally coca cola is performing better than pepsi.
These are certainly some of the biggest blunders in business in recent years. Wonder what the top 10 all time would be?
Actually Pepsi is doing way better than Coke and Dr. Pepper combined.
get the facts straight. Pepsi owns, Fritolay products, Quaker Oats and Gatorade and so much more than Coke could ever… Many people didn’t know that and thought Pepsi was just Pepsi a soda in a can. Also they own Mist, Root beer, Country Time lemonade, Tropicana Juice, and Mountain Due… Research them.. I did and man It blew my mind away how much they own!
That is what I m saying my friend. At one point of time, Pepsi was way below Coca Cola, at that time, coca cola refused to buy Pepsi, and now Pepsi has become their strongest competitor in the entire world
Joe you are so right!!! Way to go!!! I actually work for Pepsi beverage company and we do own all the above mentioned and more!!!!! We are by far leading the beverage industry over coke!!!!!!!!!
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