5 Steps to Taking Action Without Certainty

I recently received the following question via email:

“You have given various methods of how to make an idea successful which are very useful and easy to implement. I wanted to check – how do I make sure that my idea will sell or it is the right direction I am going in. Unless and until I am sure about my initiative I cannot encourage myself to work towards it.”

This is an excellent question and one that I am sure many people have.

Unfortunately, my answer may not make those people happy:

You Can’t!

This is one of the most useful lessons I picked up from the world of improv comedy:

Success comes not from having a fully formed idea right up front, but rather by taking one step, seeing what happens, and adjusting as you go.

This is not to say that you should “wing it,” or abandon planning altogether. It just means that plans are limited, and if you spend your time coming up with a perfect plan that covers all contingencies and guarantees success, you’ll never get started.

Instead, here is how to use the improv comedy / “Ding Happens!” approach to implementing projects, new ideas, and initiatives:

1. Get Clear – Why are you taking this action? What is your goal? What are you trying to achieve? When you are clear on where you are trying to get to you have a much easier time adjusting and staying on track when things don’t go as planned. It’s when people only focus on their plan that they waste tremendous time and energy.
2. Minimize Risk – The danger in taking action when success is uncertain is that you could lose time, money, energy, and more. The key is to minimize risk by thinking lean and agile. Don’t bet the whole farm right out of the get. Start with a small step where the loss is acceptable. Shrink the task until the potential loss is something you can live with. One caveat: There should be some risk involved. If you try to shrink the task to a point where there is no chance of loss, then your steps will be insignificant.
3. Take Action – Sounds simple, but I know many people who had great ideas but never even took the first step. Heck, I have a few projects of my own that I have yet to take an action on. Don’t get caught up in over-planning! You can’t figure it all out in advance. You will learn far more and make more progress by taking action and studying the results than you will trying to prepare for every contingency. So ACT!
4. Analyze – One of the hallmarks of being lean and agile is that after each discrete step you analyze the results. What worked? What didn’t? What did we learn? Should we stay on the plan or adjust? This stage not only helps you stay on track, but by regularly taking stock of what’s going on you reduce the likelihood of wasting time and money on a losing prospect.
5. Adjust and Try Again or Quit – Once you’ve analyzed, it’s time to make adjustments and try again (or take the next step). Or quit – gasp! A motivational speaker talking about quitting?!? Yes, quitting. Not all paths are brilliant. Not all goals are achievable. Most importantly, you may decide that what you set out to achieve isn’t worth achieving or isn’t really what you want. Quitting the things that don’t matter makes room for the things  that do.

Life is uncertain. Rather than waiting for a guarantee that things will go your way, adopt the mindset and approach of the improviser: start with a plan, take a small step, and analyze and adjust as you go. You may not always end up where you planned, but you will often end up somewhere wonderful…

***

Share This!

Like the info in this article? Here are some pre-written updates you can copy and paste into Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn:

5 Steps to Taking Action Without Certainty by @avishp http://goo.gl/hN5Dc

Rather than waiting for a guarantee of success, adopt the approach of the improviser by @avishp http://goo.gl/hN5Dc

Five tips on using improv to succeed from @avishp http://goo.gl/hN5Dc

If you wait to come up with a perfect plan that guarantees success, you’ll never get started. http://goo.gl/hN5Dc @avishp

***
Does your team or organization need help with its creativity, innovation, or ability to deal with change? If so, give Avish a call – 484-366-1793 – or send him an email to talk about having him work with your group! !