People I’m coaching and working with often tell me about ideas that they have. Ideas for new ways to get work done and even for new services and products. “Sounds great”, I say. “When are you going to try it out?” At that point, people usually give me what I call the long list of “I can’ts”…all the reasons why they’re sure their idea won’t work, and every possible excuse why they’re too busy to give it a try. The conversation usually ends with the person saying, “I just don’t know if it’s really a good idea or not”. And that’s the point. Until we try an idea out – turn it from simply an idea into a reality – there’s no way to know. Because the only way to find out if an idea helps us to solve a problem, satisfy a customer or reach our goals is to give it a try and see what happens. And the sooner the better. Because, if the idea works really well, then waiting only delays the benefits for our customers and for us. And, if the idea doesn’t work as we think it will, the sooner we find that out, the better too! Then we can simply move on. So, if you have an idea, try it out right away. Don’t put it off, because if you do, you’ll never know if it was a good idea or not!
