Invisible but Essential: Let Perseverance Guide Bold Pivots

Steve Case’s first foray into online gaming—GameLine—looked like a sure bet. Bringing video games online, with a hot-air balloon launch at the Consumer Electronics Show, the whole project seemed ready to scale. But as the Atari craze fizzled and product sales crumbled, inventory piled up and staff were laid off. Everyone expected Case to walk away. Instead, stuck in a nearly-empty office, he logged every failure: outdated modem tech, the wrong business model, skeptical vendors, lousy timing.

Rather than patch over cracks, Case and his team brainstormed drastic pivots. They ditched their hardware, partnered with a struggling computer brand, and rebuilt their offering for a wider audience. After months, a minor contract with Commodore blossomed into larger partnerships, eventually birthing America Online. What looked like the end was a new beginning, shaped by resilience and a willingness to adapt on more than one front.

Behavioral psychology tells us perseverance is less about working harder blindly and more about smart, self-aware learning from roadblocks. Research on successful founders shows they’re willing to document failures, identify radical pivots, and fill experience gaps by drawing on their own and their team’s histories. Real progress comes not from punishing yourself for mistakes, but from seeing them as necessary data—so you can find the next idea worth pursuing.

When a plan fails, pause and write down precisely what went wrong, stripping away any urge to spin or sugarcoat. Instead of obsessing over fixing the broken version, ask: could we pivot—change direction entirely or find a new customer? Gather your team, swap stories of past recoveries from setbacks, and borrow solutions that work, even if they come from outside your field. Stay flexible in mind and action, and treat each dead end as the start of your next best strategy.