Don’t say it won’t work

I can tell you without any doubt that one of the enemies of innovative thinking is experience. Don’t get me wrong. Experience is very good. Sometimes we put people in certain roles because of their experience. Organizations will not typically risk putting a rookie in some sensitive and delicate roles because they lack the experience. However, experience tends to get in the way of creativity and innovation. This is because we get so used to the normal way of getting things done, such that we do not think outside the box. Anytime you hear a well-experienced and professionally respected person say, “that won’t work”, know that they are talking from experience and not from creative or innovative thinking.

When you were a little child, you believed many things were possible. You probably believed your dad could buy you a small hot air balloon that would take you to the moon. You believed that because you were not familiar with the facts of life and the experience that would make you think otherwise. Here is the problem. As we grow up and gather experience, we lose our imaginative ability, the mindset of believing that everything is possible. I discussed that extensively in my book “Pursuit of Personal Leadership”. Unless someone continues to develop their imaginative ability and engage constantly in creative thinking, they will let their experience get in the way. That is why you find a lot of people in corporate places without the ability to think for change and channel an innovative course for the future. They tell you, “That doesn’t work”.
​
One of my philosophies is that you shouldn’t say something will not work until you have tried it and tried it in different ways. People say something is impossible because of parochialism. We need to get our mindset tuned to exploring possibilities, even when we know too much about the process. In your personal and professional life, stop saying and believing that “it won’t work”. Start accepting that incredible things are possible.

---

Actions for the week

1. How do you respond when someone comes up with an idea that seems too big to be realistic? Do you tend to think about it or you basically jettison the idea? Be honest.
2. Determine to recondition your mind for imagination and creative thinking. Decide to always find way of making things work rather than accepting it is impossible.
3. If you have a copy, read chapter 6 of my book “Pursuit of Personal Leadership”, where I discussed creative thinking in detail. 

---

A quote to remember
Anything is possible if a person believes. – Jesus Christ

---

Until another time,
Dele Ola, Award-Winning Author of Be A Change Agent
​Click HERE to learn about and get copies of Dele’s Books