Pick a creative project you can complete in 20 to 30 days. Draw a sketch of your desired end result. The quality of the drawing is less important than the fact that it is a picture, not a concept.
Be careful not to turn your desired end result into an obligation (i.e. “We have to do this"). Obligations can gut the initiative of its life blood, which is a burning desire to have a desired end result come into existence.
Draw a sketch of current reality, warts and all! Be sure to vet this picture for perceptions, speculations, editorials, and viewpoints—just the facts!
Stare at each drawing and trust that appropriate actions will appear to you. I know this sounds esoteric, but it works!
Document your actions in no particular order. Keep writing until you have exhausted the possibilities. Consolidate your action steps. Combine ideas that are obviously connected. Eliminate those that do not fit. Put your action steps in order from today to your desired outcome.
Ask yourself, “If we take these actions, will we create our desired end result? What’s missing?” (These last two steps eliminate the necessity for buy-in).
Put due dates and accountabilities on each action step and take action NOW!
Learn as you go. Re-evaluate your actions. Do not remain committed to obviously ineffective or irrelevant actions just because they were on your original plan. Your commitment is to create what you want to exist, not to “make our plans work.”
Do not let the simplicity and elegance of this process fool you. This is not what most business people do to create desired results, even though many contend they “do this all the time.” They don’t!
This process eliminates four of the most common mistakes executives make in turning their ideas into reality:
1. Mixing fact-finding with speculating, assuming, worldviews, mental models, perceptions, opinions, and implied causes.
2. Trying to secure buy-in late in the process. The time to engage others is in the early stages, not after you finalize your plans.
3. Designing speculative actions rather than those obviously tied to the desired end result and current reality.
4. Filling current reality statements with not’s and don’t have’s, such as “We don’t …” or “We’re not …” Leave the (k)nots to scouts and sailors!
Note on step 4: Be wary of individuals who declare, “This is current reality.” More often than not, they will give you their opinion of current reality.
For example, here is a clear statement of a current reality: “Sales are down 17 percent. Ten percent of our customers switched to our competitors in the past three months.”
In contrast, “Our offering is weak, we need more marketing … etc.” is speculative and may contain an embedded lobby for a particular solution. You can bet this one will be followed with a suggestion to “update products/services,” or create “incentives” to increase sales.
While this may produce a short-term uptick in sales, there may be other potential causes of customer migration. You can bet customers moved to competitors based on a specific motivation not linked to the vendor’s marketing spin or incentive package.
Let’s end with a reality check. A facilitator asked a group of several hundred people these questions:
“How many have read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill?” (Dozens of hands went up).
“How many think applying those ideas could produce positive results in your life and your career?” (Most hands stayed up).
The facilitator added, “In the past 30 days, how many of you have specifically applied the six-step formula on page 36 of the book?” (It was an honest group. Almost every hand went down!)
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