“Do or do not, there is no try.”
–Yoda
Jedi master
from the Star Wars film series
We don’t test things. We do things.
Testing something carries a subtle implication that we’re not going to be accountable to our results – a kind of caveat to any potential failure suggesting that it’s okay if our efforts don’t produce positive results because “it’s just a test.”
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“One is responsible for
one’s own life. Passivity
provides no protection.”
–Madeleine Kunin (1933 – )
Swiss-American diplomat and politician
Sometimes, if we don’t have success after repeated attempts to do something, we can lose confidence and eventually give up trying. It’s called “learned helplessness” (we learn to be helpless).
Sales check: Any areas where you and your team have stopped trying (or try, but with little commitment) because prior repeated failures and/ or a perceived inability to succeed has trained you not to try? In prospecting and customer contact efforts? In motivating and improving team attitudes and cooperation? With customer care improvement initiatives?
If so, what can you start doing today to minimize any “learned helplessness” that may have set in?
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“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
–John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)
English economist and philosopher
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