This might seem like a ridiculous thing to say – maybe you’re thinking, DUH. Of course you can’t. I challenge you to consider how often you refrain from putting something down on paper because it doesn’t meet an expectation. How often do you refuse to try something because success is not guaranteed? In fact, perhaps failure is guaranteed! Or maybe you say to yourself, that would be nice, if…. Why do you talk yourself out of creative solutions? Why do you talk yourself out of thinking in a new, fresh, brave way?
I bring this up because it is uncanny how once something is in existence, even in a very raw form, it can be molded, changed, improved upon. If we fail to give it that chance – that breath of life – it remains a fanciful notion in our minds. Guess what? Fantasy isn’t real, and no matter what kind of things you are doing in your mind, if they aren’t having real impact on the systems, processes, and people around you, they are impotent.
One thing I came across myself recently was a process I was working on with a group of people. Our first step was to create a central place for information to exist, but our first stab at that wasn’t great. It was better than what we had before, which was nothing! I actually said to the group, “Well, it isn’t perfect, but you can’t improve something that doesn’t exist!” They were like, Nice. That’s deep. But I think many of us can resonate with this in the sense that sometimes it seems “better” to wait for something more polished to somehow spring forth than to put down a really messy concept. Sometimes those messy concepts feel more like hydras than solutions. Even so, you can’t conquer the beast without first seeing it in existence.
What does this look like in business? You might be bringing on a new employee. How is that person being trained? Are they being introduced to a system of thinking? Or are you leaving them to fend for themselves and figure it out? I’ve often heard people say, “Oh man. I know I need a system for that – but I just don’t have time.” I get it. Even your first stab at getting your thinking and approach codified gives someone a place to start. Don’t scoff at small beginnings!
Activity: What’s something in your job or business you wish you could give to someone else? Take ten minutes and write down the process. How might you simplify or improve this so that you are spending less time doing it?