Building on Imperfection - "The Leaning Tower of Pisa"

I know a former boss, who preached the concept of perfection and how the little things we do right could make us perfect. This concept is true in its own essence but what happens to people or business who are not getting it right. I came across the history of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and this changed my perception - so instead of striving for perfection, I can build on my imperfections to become monumental. Read the story of the tower below and the learning points you can take from this story as an entrepreneur: 

The Leaning Tower of  Pisa is the 3rd oldest structure in Italy and it is over 1000 years old. The Tower of Pisa was designed as a bell tower but its main purpose was to visually attract people to the cathedral in the town of Pisa. In the second year of its construction, the tower began to tilt - this was because the ground was too soft on one side to support the structure's weight.

The construction of the tower was halted for almost a century because of war and this allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Numerous efforts were made to restore the tower to a vertical orientation or at least keep it from falling but most of these efforts failed, some even worsened the tilt

John Burland, a professor of soil mechanics, came up with the system of removing soil from the north side in order to make the building settle back into the ground and thus reduce the tilt. This worked and the tower was reopened to tourism in 2001.Today, the restored Tower of Pisa leans at a 3.97 degree angle.

Learning Points

Successful businesses do not spring off overnight. It takes hard work, dedication and persistence to create a business that would impact generations.

What you perceive as a short-coming today can become a stepping stone for greatness tomorrow. Think differently, Act differently and Be unique.

If you are having difficulty in building your business, maybe things do not go as planned. Instead of starting over, build on you rocky start and create a monument. The Tower had a rocky start and instead of pulling down the building they started to think of ways to reinforce it - reinforcing your business could take a longtime but its sure to guarantee success once the right formula is discovered

In business, instead of thinking of what to add to your business - think of what you can take out of the business to give it a better balance.It could be your processes, systems or even customers. In other for the tower to be what it is today they had to remove from the foundation to make the building settle back into the ground.