Leap
Frogging
A
free online seminar!
Part
1
How
often do you think of a brilliant idea, get started on it (or
maybe just play with it in your head a while), and then get distracted
with a new one before the first one gets halfway done? For example,
the book proposal for the non-fiction book that will change the
world gets put aside in order to develop a series of workshops
that will change the world. Then the workshops get put aside to
build your consulting business which will change the way the world
does business. Then your consulting business gets put aside to
invent the electric potato peeler, which will change the way the
world peels potatoes.
Sound
familiar? Well, you're in good company. It's a common pattern
among highly creative and intelligent people. I call it "leap
frogging," and it's what happens when people prefer having
ideas to carrying them out.
It's not all totally bad. The same thought processes that cause
us to leap frog also give us those flashes of intuition and leaps
of understanding that make us so good at what we do in the first
place. It's just that, like any quality, there are positive and
negative aspects to it.
There
are a lot of reasons why we leap frog. First, coming up with ideas
is what we do best, so we'd rather do that than carry them out.
Then there's always that rush of excitement and energy when we
start something new but fades out as we continue to work on things.
Another is than every project that lasts more than an hour or
so develops lulls, slumps, and brick walls we have to get through,
over and around. It's much easier to start a new project than
to slog through a slump.
Sometimes
it's a simple case of something else comes up that either is,
or appears, more urgent or important. And finally, there's a fear
that we'll never get around to getting this great idea done if
we don't do it now, coupled with a fear that we might forget it,
or some of those subtle nuances that make the idea so great.
All
of these are legitimate reasons. They're normal, natural, and
very, very common. The problem is that at the end of the day,
week, month, and year, we're left with a bunch of half-started
projects, very little satisfaction, and a lot of frustration that
we turn on ourselves. We start feeling as though there is something
wrong with us. We ask ourselves, "Can't I stick to anything?
What' s wrong with me?" Often we answer, "I'm undisciplined.
I'm a loser. I'm a bad manager."
Well,
the problem isn't so much with us as it is with our systems. Because
we are highly creative and intelligent people, we need a different
kind of support structure to help us see our projects and ideas
through to completion. We need something that's flexible enough
to allow us to have new ideas, but solid and durable enough to
keep us on track.
To
continue with the Leap Frogging seminar, please proceed to Leap
Frogging, Part 2
Part
2 | Part 3 |
Part 4
|
