If something needs done, why not be the one to do it? To fill in the gap? To take the next step?
What’s missing is a sense of urgency in what we do sometimes. Not all the time, only some time. I realize most people feel overworked and under appreciated. So probably the last thing they think they need is that sense of urgency. You see the slowness creep into big orgs. It takes forever to get stuff done. Few people take initiative. People don’t want to step on toes even though it is inevitable. People concentrate on protecting their six vs. getting outside their comfort zone to do something cool and different. And thus, organizational inertia. It’s strange. It’s real. It prevents people from being and doing their best.
If something needs done, why don’t you do it? Even if it is outside of your normal duties? Even if it is something you need to learn how to do first? Who cares if you try and fail? Try again. Get better. Better that one, too. It is efforts that ought to be rewarded. Not necessarily only doing a pristine job. Reward effort. Reward trying and testing, trying and testing, trying and testing. We are all ready to try and test.
It’s funny how R&D gets to try and test and experiment all day long yet no other department does this. And how R&D knows that 90% of the experiments they run will be failures, yet it is 100% normal and accepted. Why not take this spirit of innovation and testing and experimentation into marketing and sales? What might be accomplished if we allocated even 10% of funds to experimentation? New channels could be opened. We’re already ready. If something needs to be done, why don’t we do it? Test and try new things.
It requires a sense of bravery and courage to test and try new things. Because most people are fine with the way things are, even if they’re not great. Testing and trying are not in most peoples’ wheelhouse. No. It takes special people willing to try, willing to go, willing to fail. Yet still persisting and going anyway. What is science but inquiry into hypothesis and experimenting to prove theories falsifiable? Nevertheless, science persists.
Try taking a step or two outside of your comfort zone, and making something new happen. Try a different tack. Tweak a strategy. Tell a better story. Give people the new. It doesn’t even have to be drastic — just different and new. Make connections that haven’t been done before. Try seeing things that others don’t. Act on what you see. Act on instinct. Act on what bothers you about the way things are. Creativity and Innovation are actions, not just thinking patterns. They are things we do, values, ways of life. Generate some creative courage and speak up, say what you see. Call the spade a spade. Speak the problem as you see it. Dissect it. Attack it from different angles. Surround it. Don’t just try one thing — try 12 things. And if you can, try them all at once. Test & try. Test and try. Test & try. Did I mention test and try to see what works?
A lot of thing things we try won’t work. That’s OK! Remember: most of the things tried in the R&D lab don’t work! No shame in that. It’s normal, day-to-day stuff. Just keep trying. Show up tomorrow and try again. And again. We have to create a lot just to get to the good stuff, which is why I recommend you show up every day at the crafting table. Show up, ready to serve your creative spirit. It needs nurturing.
Plus, it is good for you! It is good for you to get away from the staid and to try new things. You are already ready to go, and you don’t need permission to go. Just GO. Go make. Go create the new. Get out of your own way and create it. Make it happen.
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