Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone! Welcome back to another Thursday update!
This week, I wanted to keep going with some creative thinking inspiration, but before I do, I have a couple of updates you should know about.
First, I wanted to give you a heads up, I am going to take some time off this Summer. Since we are about to close and then move, I’ve just gotten behind on writing and want to make sure I can dedicate the proper time to content. As such, my last post before the break will be April 8th (the day we close), and then I’ll start this up again in June!
This will give me time to reflect, make any changes to these posts, and come up with some new content for y’all!
Definitely let me know if there is something you don’t like, like, etc.
It will also give me more time to work on some books I’ve been wanting to work on…if I have spare time, haha!
The second announcement is that I wanted to remind y’all of the Substack website.
I encourage you to go to their website and set up an account if you haven’t already. If you use the email you receive these newsletters on, then you’ll immediately have access to this newsletter from their platform and can go back to any and all posts in the past.
I mention this as well because Substack just announced they released an iOS app! So if you have an iPhone, try out their app, it might be easier to read new posts on their than your email. Totally up to you, though!
Ok, now to some creativity.
Today, I want to talk about failure.
Specifically, why we fail sometimes.
One potential source of our failure can come simply from our mindset. The mindset of the word:
“try”
The author of the book I read even quotes the wise old Jedi master, Yoda himself: “Do or do not. There is no try.”
It’s true, though. The context of this discussion comes from why some companies fail. The obvious one is when companies stay still and let the competition continue to grow and innovate until they lose all their customers. That’s a clear reason for failure, but there are tons of companies that also try to succeed and grow, and still fail. So why might that be?
This idea of “trying” is the sneaky runner-up. Many companies want to be innovative, but when they go after a new idea they say, “well, we’ll try it.” If it works it works, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. As if they already accept failure.
They are going after a new initiative or new idea with one foot out the door.
The Kelley brothers (the authors of the book) painted a picture of one of the professors in their design thinking program.
He has this classic exercise where he holds a water bottle in his hand and tells the class: “Come down and try to take the bottle out of my hand.”
Assuming there was some trick, they all come down and try to take the bottle, but each one fails. The professor's grip gets tighter and they all give up.
He then rephrases the exercise and says: “Don’t try. Just come down and take it from me.”
The next student does it without fail.
I don’t know if the professor lets him take it to make his point or what, but either way, he makes a good point.
Whatever new initiative, habit, or project you work on don’t start with, “I’ll give it a try” like you’re Kevin Mcallister trying a microwavable mac n cheese for the first time. Go all-in with confidence, “I’m going to do X,” whatever that X is for you.
You might still fail and that’s ok, that’s part of life. God never told us: “don’t fail in life.” In fact, He promised us plenty of hardship along the way. But at least if you go all in and fail, you know you truly gave it your all. And giving it your all starts with a mindset.
“Do or do not. There is no try.”