This Might Not Work

Have you ever uttered this phrase? Maybe you've read Seth Godin's meditations on it. Maybe you're more likely to say something like: this will never work.

But this phrase. This phrase is powerful. This phrase creates space -- space for possibility, for risk, for chance.

This might not work.

When I say this to myself, I'm accepting uncertainty. I'm allowing possibility for success, for failure, for this thing that I'm doing right now, this thing that I'm about to do, to work as I expect it to or for something completely different to happen. 

This might not work.

When I say this to my team, I'm telling them that it's ok to take a risk. That it's ok to fail. That we can reach and we can stretch and we can learn and we can keep going. 

This might not work.

The only thing that I can control about this thing that I'm doing right now is what I am doing. I can't control market forces. I can't control how people will respond. I can't control any of these any more than I can control the weather or the future.

And if I'm not telling myself that this might not work, then what I'm doing is probably not worthwhile. It probably has no element of possibility, of risk. And if that's the case, what is it? What is it for?

So this phrase is one of my very favorite phrases. It's up on the inspiration board I keep above my desk. When I hesitate or hit the resistance, it helps to spur me on. I hope it helps you, too.