Try It!!

I follow Seth Godin's Blog.  He's a great writer & love his simple insights into many things that are leadership based.  I read this blog entry  yesterday and it came at a great time because the last few weeks I've been processing similar thoughts.

Getting serious about experimentationHere's what doesn't work: hacking around and ignoring what doesn't work.
Here's what also doesn't work: doing your best with your work and then dismissing the elements that don't work as experiments.
The best experiments are experiments on purpose. They are done with rigor and intent. They are measured. They are designed to either fail or create an approach that can be scaled.
Great experimenters measure their results. They probe. They fail on purpose. And when they find something that works, they hand the knowledge over to operators and executors who can scale their work.
You don't get to call it an experiment after it fails.

I've always enjoyed trial & error aspects of leadership.  I enjoy experimenting with different ideas with intentionality.  Seeing a problem, brainstorming ideas & then seeing what happens with actions.  Then evaluating again, how are things going.   

I wonder how many people think they are really changing their personal life, their marriage, parenting and areas of leadership for the better of everyone around them?  

We can't buy into the assumption that "things will work themselves out" without intentional efforts.  The type of efforts we take is where the experimenting with purpose comes in hand.  Try something, be intentional, learn from what works & what didn't work, keep learning, keep working & strive for better.