Houston, we are not ready to launch yet!

I woke up with a panic attack this Monday with an email from a friend that said ‘I tried to download and install your app and ran into issues.’ A voice in my head goes, ‘Err, umm, what?’. I am grateful she reached out because it helped me resolve it sooner than later.

It was not a problem of epic proportions like, ‘Houston, we have a problem’. But it was certainly a problem of ‘Houston, we are not ready to launch yet.’

By the way, did you know that the term ‘Houston, we have a problem’ is an erroneous quote made highly popular by the 1995 film Apollo 13. The original words spoken by astronaut Jack Swigert to base were, ‘Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem’.

Well, back to my present day Monday morning.

Are you signed up on PopSmartKids to receive newsletters and email updates? Then you know what I am talking about.

Ever took the brownie out of the oven way too early and packed it off for a bake sale? Then you know what I am talking about.

As I started digging I realized an email had gone out to all my enthusiastic friends who have signed up to be with me on this journey. The email was an invitation to download the kid’s story telling app. It was completely unintentional. My team and I were researching on getting our email lists integrated in preparation to our launch at the end of this year. We are not there yet. Have you heard of tech misfirings? I am calling this a tech-misfiring.

The only logical thing to do for me was to reach out to each one of my trusted ally and tell the truth. I sent out an apology email, explaining what had happened. To quote a colleague I respect, ‘Experience over knowledge. Failing forward is the way to go’. I believe him.

I am grateful for each one of you for taking this ride with me. Stay with me, it is only going to get better.

It was also the same day that I found this little poster on the walls of the school while I was picking up my son. It definitely resonated.

Share this post!