“It can’t be done.”
“It’s not feasible.”
“It’s too difficult.”
“It’s not possible.”
These and other similar naysayer phrases have no place in
the life of an innovator. The act of innovation by definition requires that we
tackle big, unsolved problems in novel ways. Successful innovation is the
primary driver of growth.
“The
question of our times is not just, ‘Can we build a product?;’ it’s ‘Should we
build it?’” – Eric Ries
We cherish the opportunity to take on challenges that others
have deemed too difficult or impossible. Furthermore, in software, there is
almost nothing that is impossible. It comes down to is balancing risk and
effort with opportunity cost.
“Don’t
find fault; find a remedy.” – Henry Ford
If you aspire to be accretive to innovation, you don’t want
to be the naysayer. You may think it’s helpful to call out all the pitfalls of
a proposed solution, but it’s more valuable to propose suggestions that make
the proposed solution even better.
Worse than being unhelpful, naysayers can sometimes stand in
the way of innovation. If you make a big production out of how a proposed
solution won’t work, and the team decides to try it anyway, you may feel like
your reputation will be tarnished if the solution succeeds. Unwittingly, you
may even find yourself trying to undermine the solution’s success at every
turn. You don’t want to be the person!
“Move
fast. Take risks. It’s okay to try big things. You’re better off trying
something and having it not work and then learning from that than having not
done anything at all.” – Mark Zuckerberg
Instead, innovators should set aside their fears and doubts,
and engage in a “solution-oriented” collaboration. How can we do it? If there
are competing proposals, look for synergies to create even better proposals.
Use lean, fast experimentation to find the best approach rather than just
arguing about it.
“I
have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
As innovators, we should believe that there’s no problem too
difficult for us to solve. We should have the dogged determination to try and
keep trying until we succeed. We should support each other’s passion to finding
that success. We should have no place for naysayers.