Here’s what getting Judo thrown, landing face first into the mat then choked out taught me about Product Development. 

Before I get into it, I’ll give you some background. 

I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about two weeks and last Wednesday I had a break-through. 

I was able to keep up with my training partner and survive (almost) a full match. 

Full disclaimer, he was likely going easy on me. 

We rolled, I was able to get in a couple of chokes, attempt some arm locks, and played a lot of defense. 

But in the end he got the “W” and I got a confidence boost. 

Fast forward to Friday and we rolled again. 

I’m laser focused on doing what I did two nights prior. 

But better. 

This time I planned on winning. 

We’re standing in wrestling stances, I grab his arm getting ready to go for the take down when out of nowhere… 

He falls backwards, taking me with him and *SPLAT*, my face slams on the mat. 

He then takes my back, goes for a choke, fights past my primary hand (playing defense), locks the choke in and gets the win. 

You see, while I was laser focused on what I thought success was, my “happy path”, he grabbed the collar of gi with one hand, and my sleeve with his other. 

Setting him up for the throw, and the eventual win. 

So what the heck does this have to do with product development you ask? 

You cannot only focus on the happy path of your users. 

Sure beautiful flows illustrate a great journey ending with a happy user. 

But what about when things don’t go right? 

Lean into your negative flows. 

Embrace the sad paths. 

Protect your users from getting Judo thrown, landing face first into the mat then choked out.