How to Deal With Change: Take Bold Action

How do you usually deal with change and uncertainty? Do you freeze? Do you try to ignore it? Do you go into over-analysis mode? Or do you take bold action?

In these cases you may be tempted to spend a lot of time analyzing and thinking about your options. However, this approach may greatly slow down your path to success while giving your competition the chance to get ahead.

Great improvisers, and anyone who is excellent at finding opportunity in the unexpected, understand the power of taking bold action:

When uncertain, take bold action. You’ll either get big results or big feedback. Either one will accelerate your success.

When uncertainty strikes, you have three options: 1) take no action, 2) take tentative action, or take bold acton.

Taking No Action

When you do nothing but analyze and think, you make no progress. You quickly fall behind others who take action.

Taking Tentative Action

When you take small, tentative action, you either get small results or small (or no) feedback.

Small results are un-motivating and don’t move you very far down the road to your goals. When things don’t work out, small action leads to little or inconsequential feedback. You can’t learn and adjust if you don’t get enough feedback.

Examples of tentative action:

• Planning
• Researching
• Forming committees (and waiting to meet)
• Tabling things “for now”

None of these are bad in and of themselves.  And you will of course want to do some research and planning before leaping into action.

However, when done excessively, or as a way to procrastinate (as is often the case when change hits or you feel uncertain), then they become problematic.

Taking Bold Action

Bold action, on the other hand, leads to either big results or big feedback.

Big results are obviously what you are after. They feel good and move you forward.

When thing don’t work out you get big feedback. This may sound like a bad thing, but when you get feedback you can learn from it, make an adjustment, and try again.

Don’t Be Stupid

This is not about being stupid. Bold action doesn’t mean that you bet the farm or take unnecessary risks. It just means that you make a decision and do something.

Examples of bold action:

• Testing a new pitch to an actual prospect or client.
• Trying new material in a speech or training session.
• Assembling a prototype and testing it out.
• Implementing a new meeting or event format.
• Launching a pilot program with a small group of clients.

It may seem scary, but you will learn far more and make much faster progress by taking bold action, analyzing the results, making adjustments, and then acting again than you ever will by just analyzing.

The next time you are faced with change, or an unexpected setback, or any kind of uncertainty, take a small, smart, and bold step and see what happens. You may very well be pleasantly surprised.

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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! !