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Does being in the military have any overlap with entrepreneurship? Our guest today certainly thinks so. In this episode of the Inner Edison Podcast, we sit down with veteran and real estate innovator James Marszalek.

Not only does James see a massive overlap between the military and entrepreneurship – he has the experience to back it up. So what lessons can new business owners and leaders take from both institutions?

Learning from your greatest failures

James Marszalek has an impressive portfolio. In 2016, he founded Red Dot Real Estate – a property management company leading the military housing revolution. Before that, he spent 7 years in the US Army as a Long-Range Scout.

Despite a timescale that spans over a decade, James’s experience in the military informs much of the success he’s garnered today – but not for the obvious reasons.

The frustration of innovation

Rather than provide inspiration, the army was initially a source of frustration, mainly where innovation was concerned. Given the emphasis on the chain of command, it’s easy to see why the best ideas weren’t always prioritized by leadership.

“Bad ideas were being approved, and good ideas were not being listened to from the lower levels,” James explains. This is a concept that many employees are familiar with. In fact, the ability to approve fresh, exciting ideas is one of the most attractive aspects of entrepreneurship.

Lower levels in the military are expected to follow orders before anything else. That makes sense in combat situations that rely on solid organization and execution of tactics. However, the ability to make decisions takes top priority in business.

Reclaiming the decision-making process

James presents some interesting theories on the correlation between military life and entrepreneurship, especially around planning and execution.

“If we’re going to go raid a house,” says James, “we had an engineering team that would literally build us a replica of the house that we were about to go into.”

They would rehearse the mission in that simulation hundreds of times. This was to build up muscle memory so that, when it was time to perform, the squad didn’t have to think about the plan’s mechanics.

Removing the mechanics doesn’t mean everything is automated, though. This was to free up thinking capacity so people could react to the situation at hand. By running through a plan until it became second nature, decisions in the field can be made faster.

Failing as quickly as possible

Speaking of fast decisions, James stands by the lean startup format. Thinking like a lean startup is about getting started with the minimal viable product so you can make those early mistakes as quickly as possible. Of course, the point isn’t to fail – it’s to learn from those mistakes.

Not only is that how entrepreneurs develop, but it’s also how we build a system that allows others to access those same lessons in the future.

The power of data

As James tells it, failing forward is the best thing a new entrepreneur can do to grow.

He details why: “You’re going to be able to make better dde4cisions with that data of the failure.”

This failure data is valuable for multiple reasons. Firstly, it points out exactly where the problem areas in the process are. It also means there’s one less mistake to make. Most importantly, this data helps more than just the entrepreneurs who make the mistakes.

Failure data is essential for improving the standard operating procedures (SOPs) that train new workers, guide management, and instruct leadership. When we learn from our setbacks, we can refine the processes that prevent them from happening again unnecessarily.

Failure is taught

In the army, failure can cost lives. In business, it can lead to innovation. This is the main separation between military and entrepreneurship in James’ combat theory. He expands on this with a great point – failure is also framed as the ultimate negative in schools.

This early framing of mistakes can lead to indecisiveness later in business. Often, the fear of messing up presents more of an opportunity cost than the act of failing itself. By failing forward, James has been able to pivot from success to success.

Learn the lessons to succeed

Failure isn’t about the mistake; it’s about learning from it. Often, inspiration can come while we pick ourselves up.

Looking for more great discussions about innovation, business, and entrepreneurship? Check out more of The Inner Edison Podcast with Ed Parcaut.