I am frequently reminded of some old Star Trek: The Next Generation episode whenever I hear or see someone who is failing, over and over again.
The episode dealth with Commander Data, the cybernetic organism that worked so dilgently to understand human life. He was pitted against some grand master in a game that looked like 3 dimensional chess. When he first played the master, Data lost in spectacular fashion. In a later attempt, however, he prevailed. The secret to his success? “I simply changed my premise. I realized I didn’t have to beat him, I just had to keep matching him.” Essentially, data learned that one way to beat an opponent is to simply avoid losing.
Now, I’m sure there are plenty of Trekkies out there who can correct the particulars of me re-telling of this episode. So be it. The point is that there are so many project failures, and product failures, and bad management initiatives that were doomed from the start because of their initial premise.
If you decide that the only way to “turn things around” is with a complete and total process re-engineering effort, but can’t seem to get enough buy-in to make it happen – you need to change your premise! Start small, find out how to build upon little successes. DO NOT try to eat the whale! Accept the premise that small and frequent changes done iteratively might get you there when massive efforts do not.
And that’s just one example. The hardest thing in the world for people to do, I think, is admit that they have actedupon completely flawed logic. It’s embarassing. It’s humiliating. Even that reaction, however, is based upon a premise needing to be changed.
Rather than starting off with a mindset that says, “Failure is to be avoided, because I don’t want to look like I am completely and totally incompetent,” try this one: “I am going to try a small step forward and test the waters. If it doesn’t work, I will have learned, and maybe I can then I can take a new direction with little harm done.”
Finding motivation and success are sometimes about hard work. Sometimes, it’s also about knowing when to go back to the beginning, and put the other foot forward.
Copyright © 2011 David Kasprzak
