Once upon a time, a pottery teacher split her class into two halves.
To the first half she said, “You will spend the semester studying pottery, planning, designing, and creating your perfect pot. At the end of the semester, there will be a competition to see who’s pot is the best”.
To the other half she said, “You will spend your semester making lots of pots. Your grade will be based on the number of completed pots you finish. At the end of the semester, you’ll also have the opportunity to enter your best pot into a competition.”
The first half of the class threw themselves into their research, planning, and design. Then they set about creating their one, perfect pot for the competition.
The second half of the class immediately grabbed fistfuls of clay and started churning out pots. They made big ones, small ones, simple ones, and intricate ones; their muscles ached for weeks from the effort.
At the end of the semester, both halves were invited to enter their most perfect pot into the competition.
Once the votes were counted, all of the best pots came from the students that were tasked with quantity.
How could the volume group possibly win?
Planning is essential in achieving our goals, but sometimes we get hung up in it too long.
Just because you’re working on something, doesn’t mean you’re making progress. There’s a subtle, yet critical difference between planning (motion) and doing (action).
I can…
- Research the best diet methods (motion) or change what I eat (action)
- Email leads in my network (motion) or meet them in-person over coffee (action)
- Brainstorm business models (motion) or pitch and win investors (action)
Sometimes, we use “planning” as an excuse to guard ourselves against failure, but failure is critical to success. More likely than not, you’re ready to jump right in, but you’re scared to take the first step.
When we focus on a particular goal, we over-index on motion; planning feels safe.
But to form our full potential, we need to mistakes and feel uncomfortable; that’s action. As we saw last week, setbacks are where all the personal growth happens.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
-Henry Ford
While the planners were on a quest for a single, perfect pot, the volume group had real practice, which made them better at building pots. When the stakes are high, we forget to just do it.
So, what’s the pottery contest in your life?
Are you too busy planning for perfection?
It’s time to get out there and make more pots.