Unlocking Action

Happy Friday!

Whether you’re leading an organization, a team, a family, or managing your own life, big, bold thinking followed by action is an underappreciated force multiplier. Underappreciated because when faced with risk and uncertainty, our brains tend to conflate caution with overpowering fear, and inaction is the result. In other words, we chicken out.

But you can temporarily override your brain's fear-detection system by asking and answering this question:

What would I attempt if I knew I wouldn’t fail?

We prematurely sideline our most exciting or ambitious ideas because we can’t see a clear connection between an initial action and the desired outcome. But that’s not how it works. Achieving big goals is almost never the result of just one step between here and there. It usually takes four to six successive events or interactions, and perhaps only the first is known or predictable.

Given that uncertainty, the first action is always tough, requiring a leap of faith with no assurance of reward. “Why did you waste your time on that?” say the second-guessers who aren't taking any risks themselves. And that’s why most people default to inaction.

Taking the first step is the difference maker. It's just something that feels right, like sharing an idea, researching a new subject, collaborating with a friend, introducing yourself, sending an unsolicited proposal, acquiring a new skill, completing a merger, a strategic acquisition, hiring a key person, or just picking up the phone and making the call. Doing something is the thing that opens the door to something else, and then something else. Four to six steps in succession are usually what it takes to get you there. But absent the first, the outcome is certain.

Punchline: Your big ideas and big ambitions aren't going to happen on their own, but time and opportunity will pass nonetheless. In the finite time we all have to do or create something meaningful for family, team, organization, humanity, or ourselves, it’s worth asking and answering the question: What would you attempt if you knew you wouldn’t fail? No one ever went to their grave feeling glad they didn't try.

Full steam ahead!

Dave

Feedback and blowback are always welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com

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