It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission
When I first started my job as an engineer, my boss and I were trying to decide how to solve a potentially disastrous problem. I came up with an idea for a solution, but I didn't think management would go for it. I'll never forget what his reply was: "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." He said that if I always did what I thought was right, he'd always have my back if I made a decision that upset someone above us. We did it, it worked, and although management might not have approved what we did beforehand, they couldn't argue with results.
It gave me great freedom in my job, but more importantly it taught me an important lesson about entrepreneurship. It's inevitable that you are going to step on the toes of other people and businesses in the things you do. If you pick up the phone and ask every single one of them if your action is going to bother them, you're in for trouble. For one, as long as what you are doing is ethical and good natured, 99% of people and businesses won't object to anything. You also open the door to people saying no if you ask. It's kind of like pointing out a defect in something and then asking whether or not it's noticeable. It might not have been before, but it is now that you mentioned it.
A great example of this is the SportsLizard News Reader from my last post. Is it permissible to publish other people's RSS feeds without their permission? I've read articles that argue both ways, and as far as my research has turned up, there is no conclusive agreement. The conservative approach is to ask people if you can republish their feed. In building a site with feeds from over 400 of the best sports sites in the world, it seemed infeasible for me to ask, even though some sites specify that you need to do so.
I figure what's the worst that can happen? ESPN sends me an email telling me to take their feed down? At that point I either try to negotiate a deal with them (maybe pay a fee) or just take it down. And the odds of that happening are sooooo small that I doubt it will ever happen.
As an entrepreneur you have to make tough decisions all the time, and if you worry about the possible effects on every single person, you'll never get anywhere. Do what's best for your business. Make a decision and just go with it. If it bothers someone or some business, offer a sincere apology. It really is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
It gave me great freedom in my job, but more importantly it taught me an important lesson about entrepreneurship. It's inevitable that you are going to step on the toes of other people and businesses in the things you do. If you pick up the phone and ask every single one of them if your action is going to bother them, you're in for trouble. For one, as long as what you are doing is ethical and good natured, 99% of people and businesses won't object to anything. You also open the door to people saying no if you ask. It's kind of like pointing out a defect in something and then asking whether or not it's noticeable. It might not have been before, but it is now that you mentioned it.
A great example of this is the SportsLizard News Reader from my last post. Is it permissible to publish other people's RSS feeds without their permission? I've read articles that argue both ways, and as far as my research has turned up, there is no conclusive agreement. The conservative approach is to ask people if you can republish their feed. In building a site with feeds from over 400 of the best sports sites in the world, it seemed infeasible for me to ask, even though some sites specify that you need to do so.
I figure what's the worst that can happen? ESPN sends me an email telling me to take their feed down? At that point I either try to negotiate a deal with them (maybe pay a fee) or just take it down. And the odds of that happening are sooooo small that I doubt it will ever happen.
As an entrepreneur you have to make tough decisions all the time, and if you worry about the possible effects on every single person, you'll never get anywhere. Do what's best for your business. Make a decision and just go with it. If it bothers someone or some business, offer a sincere apology. It really is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
posted by Adam McFarland at
11/28/2006 05:23:00 PM
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home