I hear innumerable ideas, which is wonderful. I really enjoy creative enthusiasm. At the same time, I know how far a journey it is from raw idea to concept sketch to operational plan to approval to execution to result.
My strength and my weakness as a grizzled veteran is that I know what has been tried before, what has worked and what has failed. And, for better or worse, I think I know why.
So when someone bounces a new idea around, asks for permission to proceed, I have choices of how to respond. In days past I did my best to delineate known failure paths, warn of areas not to go into or to avoid. These days I am much more likely to:
– Specify the resources available (time, money, support from other parts of the organization)
– Define the desired result (how will we define success?)
– Establish interim accountability checkpoints, reporting deadlines, and channels
And then let the team loose sans the words of caution I used to impart so carefully.
Why have I ceased my litany of warnings and cautions? My tales of “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”? Three major reasons:
– The past is becoming less of a reliable prologue to the future. Just because it didn’t work yesterday is no guarantee it won’t work tomorrow.
– I’ve come to believe that the quality of the execution of an idea can have as much impact on success as the quality of the idea itself.
– I found that my warnings often had an unintended side effect: I was acting like a fire hose, dousing creative enthusiasm and energy.
Sometimes the greatest risk is not taking any risk. Is there a part of your life where you are being an unintentional fire hose, dousing the fire and energy of creative enthusiasm with excessive caution?
Closing Quotes:
“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.” — Mary Kay Ash
“What I do best is share my enthusiasm.” — Bill Gates
“A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.” — Charles M. Schwab
0 Comments