- Thomas A. Edison
Edison is one of my favorite "quote authors", and this one is worth taking to heart, posting on your wall, and emailing to yourself once in a while as a reminder, particularly if your work strays into the realm of innovation. Even when you do the right things, and you do things right...there are times when it seems like nothing that you are doing is going anywhere. When this happens, it is easy to think that the best option facing you is to just give up, but as Edison says...you may be getting discouraged at exactly the wrong point.
So, how do you know whether you are completely on the wrong track as opposed to merely running into one of the inevitable and healthy bumps that occur as you develop new ideas into reality?
Take a little break. Get away from the work at hand. When you find yourself discouraged, it may not be time to quit, but it is probably time for a break. This doesn't have to take a long time, but it does require stepping away from "the machine" and getting away from your desk. Do something you enjoy, that doesn't take all your cognitive resources. Ideally, find something that gets you into your "zone", one of those activities that you loose yourself in. For me, that could be going skiing, hiking, or working on the garden. You want something you genuinely enjoy and pretty much loose yourself in. An activity that is in your "zone" is something that leaves you not thinking deeply about anything else while you are engaged. This gives your busy brain a little vacation, which is essential to staying on track when the path is not perfectly clear. Believe me, even a full day off will probably be a better use of your time than grinding through a day of discouragement.
Refocus. Once you have given yourself a break, you will be in a much better place to tackle the challenges you are facing realistically, and from a new angle. If you are feeling discouraged, you may well benefit from a little time back at the drawing board with your newly refreshed brain. Take a little time to refocus, and remind yourself of where you are going. I recommend writing down your key goals, again. You should have them in your strategic plan already, but take a good look at them, and consider if you want to rephrase any aspects. A good strategic plan sometimes requires adjustment along the way, so use this opportunity to keep yours on track. Review your tactical plans, are they still mapping you where you want to go? If not, make adjustments. Again, plans have to be dynamic to be effective, you can't expect to build a plan and put it on the shelf if you really want to have your idea go anywhere. You are in a different place than when you started your plan, your goals and objectives may have adjusted since you started. Do you need to make changes to your roadmap to accomodate those changes?
Brainstorm. Once you have taken some time to review where you are and where you are going, and you have a little more focus in your tactical plans, consider using a brainstorming approach to shake some ideas loose. If you have team members, pull them into the mix. Brainstorming benefits from other brains. It also helps to move around, sitting still doesn't help you think differently. Post some paper on the wall, write some questions on the top, grab some sticky notes and start running through ideas. Consider using a timer and giving folks 2-5 minutes to write their ideas and put them up on the wall. Depending on the size of your group, you can do this together, in pairs, or as individuals, and the rules are pretty simple.
- Don't spend any time evaluating your thoughts.
- Don't discuss anyone's posting.
- Don't be critical.
The point is just to get as many thoughts out as possible. The point is not to get the "solution" immediately, but to get your brain going in new directions. Remember that our brains work by connecting one idea to another. If we keep going down the same track, we keep having the same ideas. If we get thinking creatively, we may find some really good solutions much more quickly. It is essential that you not be critical of ideas here. It is often the completely unrealistic or off-the-wall idea is the one that completely shifts your thinking to a new direction.
Try some of these questions for starters:
- What is good about the idea you are working on?
- What is working well in moving your idea forward?
- What do you like about this idea?
- What confuses you about this idea?
- What confuses others about this idea?
Evaluate. Take the ideas that are posted and review them in light of your goals and tactical plans. What can you bring into your existing plan to make it more effective? What will improve your approach? What can you take out of your plan to streamline it? Where are you hitting opposition? Did your brainstorming provide any insights you can use to overcome opposition? Are there points that are confusing that suggest a need for redesign of your plans?
Integrate. Don't just think great thoughts. Integrate them into your work. Use the insight from your brainstorming and evaluation process to CHANGE your tactical plans. You hit a wall, you got discouraged, you need to try something different, and you need to make that tangible, not theoretical. All too often this is the point where even the most enthusiastic architects and innovators stop. The idea may be great and the goals clear when the effort began, but when it comes to making things real, in the face of challenges, many don't go back to update the tactical plans that are in place. As a result, discouragement grows and the effort slows. Give things a jolt. Built a new aspect to your plan. Focus efforts on an area that has not gotten enough attention yet. Revise your approach and you are likely to see things go differently.
Communicate. The worst thing you can do when you feel discouraged is to keep it to yourself. Get together with other people who bring you up. Bounce around ideas. Talk about their challenges and successes. Okay, you can whine a little, too, but don't spend too much time there. Use your time to add new ideas to your thinking, connect with other people, and remember why you liked going out on the limb in the first place. Even when your good work may be going nowhere...it is still good work!
No comments:
Post a Comment