Monday Memo #15

Stop planning and do something.

The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.

Hi everyone,

Today I want to talk about how important it is to try things. Last week’s Collaboratory with Jim Kalbach reinforced to me how important it is to jump in and try things before you really know what’s going on.

It was so fun to dive in and play with meeting structure, to work through the confusion, disorientation and discomfort to find a rhythm and a flow.

It reminded me that you really don’t know what you are doing until after you start doing it. 

Think about any big decision you have made in your life. Getting married. Having kids. Moving to a new job. The fact is that you never really understand what you’re getting into until you are in the midst of it. This is true of any new relationship, and customer relationships are no different.

Planning can be useful, but it can also easily become a form of procrastination; a way to delay the real learning that comes when your idea meets the friction of real life. No plan survives contact with reality, and the real learning begins when you give yourself permission to do something, to be awkward, to be wrong, to look stupid, in public.

Action and reflection are partners. Action is doing things. Reflection is thinking about what you learned. Without action there can be no reflection. 

Exercise.

So here’s your exercise: Whatever you’re thinking about, jump in. Stop thinking, stop planning, and do something. It doesn’t have to be big.

You’re not ready yet. I know. But you know what? You will never be ready. And you won’t learn anything until you start doing something.

You might not find what you're looking for, but you might find something even better than what you're looking for that you weren't even looking for. If you're not looking for something, you're not going to find anything.

So get out on the beach and bring your metal detector and just start wandering around and poking things and see what happens. 

Updates:

Our popular Course Creation Course launches its second cohort on April 2nd. If you’re thinking about creating a course in the School of the Possible, or if you’ve always wanted to start a course and you need a little push, this is a great way to get started on that. Early bird pricing of $99 ends March 27, after that it’s $379. Learn more here.

The second cohort of Mike Parker’s excellent Liminal Explorations course starts April 11th. If you’re interested in enhancing your creativity and reducing stress by developing your relationship with your unconscious mind, this is the course for you. I joined the last cohort and really enjoyed it. Mike creates a warm and inviting atmosphere which invites every participant to explore at their own pace. Early bird pricing of $99 ends April 1, after that it’s $300. Learn more here.

Our Friday Campfire calls are free to join, anyone is welcome, and we talk about things that are fueling our creative energy and inspiring us. The energy is infectious. Even if you’re stuck, or don’t feel like you have anything interesting to add, if you have the time, join anyway. I promise you’ll enjoy it. Instructions to join the Friday Campfire and/or add it to your calendar.

Collaboratories are held on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. They are free for members. Last week Jim Kalbach introduced us to some concepts from Jazz that can help us be more spontaneous in our interactions. Coming up in April, David Hutchens will join us to explore love in leadership, and Mike Rohde will help us think about sketching projects. Members also get access to recordings of previous collaboratories and the full email archive. Become a member by upgrading your subscription.

As of this week we have 55 members. The first 100 members will lock in the $20/month, $200/year rate.

If you’re already a member, thank you. You’re making this possible.