How _could_ this work?
When confronted with a new possibility, most people immediately point out all the reasons why it won’t work. Nobody will want to do that, I could never imagine buying that, etc. This initial skepticism is natural because it keeps people safe; trying something new is uncertain and potentially dangerous.
And yet people create new products and services and art every day. How? By focusing on the possibilities that could lead to success.
Rather than focus on why the new idea won’t work, ask the question of “What would it take for this to work?” That will give you an idea of the path you could follow – it may be a low probability path, but at least it has the chance of leading to success. Once you know the key ingredients necessary for success, you could then start running experiments on how to create those ingredients.
But it all starts by shifting your default from “This won’t work” to “This could work if…”.
A personal example: when I was dating the woman that is now my wife, she went on a business trip to Hong Kong, and was spending the weekend to be a tourist. I found a cheap flight for that weekend and joked about joining her, but immediately listed all the reasons I couldn’t: I had work to do, it was ridiculous to fly 14 hours for a 3-day weekend, etc. Fortunately, I talked to my friend Victor Saad who asked me “What will you remember in ten years? The time you stayed home and worked, or the time you flew to Hong Kong on a day’s notice to see a girl?” Once I decided I was going (“This could work if…”), I loaded the relevant documents onto my laptop so I could work on the flight, I cleared a few meetings, and off I went. My wife and I still talk about that fun weekend we shared several years ago.
What do you currently think is “impossible” because you can see all the ways it wouldn’t work? Try flipping your default to “To make this work, what would I have to do?” and see how that changes your perspective on what to do next.
#innovation #leadership #coaching