During a conversation I had this flash about the challenge of expressing an idea:
The inspiration comes all of a sudden, landing fully formed with a thud. I can see and touch the fine details. It’s beautiful, like a ship inside of a bottle.
The challenge is to extract that ship from the bottle through the narrow, constricted neck using only the communication tools at hand, without breaking anything.
If I don’t quickly attempt to extract my idea, it dissolves into nothingness.
Inspiration only lasts a moment. If you don’t capture it right away, it’s gone.
Do you ever get that sinking feeling in your stomach when you say yes to something and then your next thought is “Uh oh. I’ve just made a huge mistake”?
That sinking feeling has happened too many times in my life: signing up with certain network marketing companies, certain friendships and relationships, accepting some projects, some clients, or some responsibilities.
If you know that what you’ve just agreed to do is not going to work or you suspect it’s not going to work, should you continue trying to make it work?
I resonate with this conversation between David Letterman and recently ousted “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann:
This is not an easy question because it goes to the heart of the matter. Do you apply the emergency oxygen mask principle and take care of yourself first? Or, as Spock said, do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one?
Even though each time I get this sinking feeling I kick myself because the last time I swore it was the last. But here I am, getting this same feeling again. Lots of questions swirl through my head:
- How does this commitment help me with my goals, projects and plans?
- What is the price I will pay for pulling out? Or for staying in if things go bad?
- What can I gain by staying in? Is there something I can learn, or people I can meet, or things I can do that I can transfer to my own projects?
- Why did I say yes in the first place? Were there expectations or assumptions I made that I did not properly confirm?
- Do I want to be the hero? The villain?
Commitment is a three step process:
1. Enrolment: where I say yes, but based on a lot of untested assumptions and unverified expectations. It’s like when I signed up to join the Canadian military based on glossy brochures. Looks good, but the only way I’ll find out if it’s for me is to say yes now.
2. Alignment: where I figure out if this is for me. During the alignment phase, I’m verifying my assumptions and my expectations. I’m seeing if my values, my goals, my dreams and my beliefs match with those of the commitment I’ve just signed up for. This is why it is so important to have an “orientation” process at the beginning of a big project. This allows people to figure out if it’s for them. Some may drop out, others may join. That’s okay, that’s how the process is supposed to work.
3. Engagement: the moment things “click”, when passion and purpose align and the commitment shifts to a deeper level. If the alignment is solid, I should feel a close attachment to the success of my decision. I’m “all in”.
That sinking feeling is a missed shift, the realization that the outcome of the alignment process is “no”. Which means you have to do something, because supporting a commitment without the full engagement of the head and the heart is a certain recipe for disaster.
The only way to grow out of your comfort zone is to say “yes” to risky opportunities. You can only make decisions based on the information at hand at the moment. It’s up to me to do sufficient due diligence and to not let myself get carried away with the idea, but it will be imperfect information.
When you pull out of a commitment, there is always a price to pay. People will talk. Your reputation will take a hit. But the good thing is that with time, if you go up to bat often enough, your hits will outnumber your misses.
So there is no easy answer to that sinking feeling. Deciding whether to stay or to go is part of the process of commitment. But no matter what, there is no point in kicking yourself when you’re in an “uh-oh” situation. It can be an invaluable teacher.
Remember that commitment is a process, and then your next step will be the right one.
I love going to tech startup events. There’s something unabashedly optimistic about startup entrepreneurs which is very different from most other kinds of people, whether they’re in business or not.
“Startup” has come to mean a very specific approach to business: an audacious idea which levages technology and capital to create something which is new, innovative and compelling. Add equal elements of fun, energy, optimism, and obsession and you start to get the vibe that happens in the Startup world.
I believe Startups have very important messages for all entrepreneurs, especially solos and micro businesses. Here are some things which come to mind:
Pursue your dream without regard to current circumstances. Although Startup entrepreneurs, like most people, obsess about finding the money to create their business, they see it as another take to be accomplished, not an obstacle. In the Startup world, what counts is the person and the idea. The rest will come if these two items are clear and compelling.
Business is communication. Startups are always pitching, speaking, writing. From the first moment, they are focused on how to communicate their idea to potential investor, clients and partners. Presentation competitions, whether for a one-minute elevator pitch or a seven-minute PowerPoint, are a central point of many Startup gatherings. I wish all entrepreneurs put this much effort into clearly communicating who they are and what they offer!
Disrupt the status quo. One of the first slides of any startup entrepreneur’s pitch deck is a deceleration of how they are going to disrupt their market: going behind, around, under and over their competitors to emerge as the new standard. Startups want to make the current way of doing things in their market obsolete.
Small is the new big. Startups start small, lean and efficient from the beginning. They want to grow in revenues without having to grow in team size. This is where the technology advantage really comes into play: quickly adjusting their focus to meet the constantly shifting sweet spot between what people are looking for and what the startup offers.
Startups think young. Although the startup world tends towards the under-30 crowd, it is more of a state of mind, the optimism of youth. I guess the advantage here is energy. You have to be in good health to keep up with a Startup entrepreneur!
There are many more messages that Startups can teach all entrepreneurs. And some lessons to avoid. In my local market of Quebec City I am pivoting my business to focus more on tech startups, with the not-so-hidden agenda to bring the best ideas, tools and methods from the startup world so you can apply them in your business, whatever you offer.
Humanity cannot afford to lose hope. This means that you and you and you and I must, at a certain point in life, stop investing our time and talents serving other people’s agendas, and start living our own one. This is the calling of the entrepreneur.
I like network marketing, I’ve had a certain financial success with it but I’ve also experienced its dark side. Here is an extensive MLM Due Diligence checklist to ensure you’re going into your new partnership with eyes and ears wide open.
During a conversation I had this flash about the challenge of expressing an idea:
