Innovating? Get it right the THIRD time.
If you ask my children to name my father’s favorite quote, they will say immediately “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” Dad is famous for his stunningly high standards and for his meticulous planning. Whatever the project at work or at home, Dad’s goal was to get it right the first time. And most of the time, he did.
Here’s the thing: Dad is an operator, not an innovator. That’s not a ding; the team needs meticulous operators, not just innovators. But it’s important for us to be able to respect an approach that’s effective for operators without also mis-applying that approach to innovators. Why? Because nobody attempting something truly innovative is going to get it right the first time.
When innovators listen to operators or engineers — those amazing people who are driven to deliver perfection every time — we hear things like get it right the first time that are centrally important to engineers and operators… but utterly crippling to innovation. Why? Because when we start the innovation process with the idea that we must get it right the first time, our brains only allow us to consider tiny incremental changes to a known model — since those are the only “innovations” with any chance of getting done right the first time.
In fact, if you nail your “new” idea the first time, it almost certainly was not very new.
If you want to unlock your brain so that you can create true innovations, drop the idea of getting it right the first time. Instead, pursue doggedly the novel concept even if it takes you beyond the horizon of familiar skills, methods, tools, or words. Accept the reality that you likely won’t have the skills, methods, tools, or words required to express or implement your concept perfectly on the first try. You will need some things which you have never needed before, so your innovation will require practicing and experimenting and learning many new skills before the concept can be executed perfectly. And, many of those needs will not be visible to you until you have a first draft of the idea in front of you.
Consequently, if your idea is truly innovative, there’s almost zero chance you are going to get it right on the first try. Or, put another way…
“The first draft of everything is shit.’ - Ernest Hemingway
A flawed first draft does not mean your idea is bad; it often simply means your idea is new. So, like Hemingway with a half-baked first draft of a future masterpiece, we must sit in the muck of editing and revisions and refinements until the genius is fully baked. Editing isn’t sexy or fun, but editing is central to good creativity.
Don’t restrict your creativity to ideas that you know you can get right the first time. And, don’t give up when your first attempt feels half-baked.
Remember: Genius involves editing.
Have a great week!
Scott
Keep reading on this thread…
Succeeding Through Failure is Not Guaranteed
How to Move Forward Even When Surrounded by Fog
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