“No, We Can’t Do It!” – The POWER OF YES In Innovation!

What I Was Doing…

“No, we can’t do it!”  This is the most common phrase I have heard in my years as a leader in innovation. From big organizations to small ones, from the government to education. It seems that it is easier for people to say, no, instead of YES!

This week I began working with a new client that comes from a very strict and regulated organization. The team is faced with more opposers than supporters at times. Their mission is powerful to help change the lives of those they serve and make them better. You would think it would be easy to innovate, but it’s not for this team.

What I appreciated during my time with them was their passion to keep moving forward, their passion to make a difference and not let the organization take them down. I would love to say in my own personal walk that I always had that attitude, but I did not. I allowed at times for the organization to overpower my passion. To distract me from the greater good of what I was called to do. NEVER AGAIN!

What I Learned…

The team this week taught me again what it means to have RESILIENCE. Resilience is the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens. In my world, many times that is focused on failure or the failure of a new idea, solution, product, or service.

As I look back on my experiences, there have been times where resilience was the only thing that got me through what I was doing. I had to have a mindset that nothing would distract me from the purpose or mission in front of me. I am not going to lie; innovation is not for the faint of heart. It is for the person who is willing to take the biggest challenges, opportunities, or frontiers not yet explored and go after it.

What I Will Do…

This week as I was traveling I viewed an infographic published by The Center For Creative Leadership  entitled, 8 Steps To Become More Resilient. Here it is:

As I read through the infographic, I realized it really did come back to simply saying, YES!

Yes, I will accept change!

Yes, I will learn!

Yes, I will take charge of my destiny!

Yes, I will find my sense of purpose!

Yes, I will be me!

Yes, I will have relationships!

Yes, I will reflect!

Yes, I will shift!

Yes, I will shift!

This is truly the essence of the POWER OF YES IN INNOVATION! You have to say, Yes to yourselves some mornings when you get up, or when you walk into that meeting where you know you are gong to face opposition. You have to have RESILIENCE!

So, over the next week, I am going to focus on these eight steps to becoming more resilient. I will encourage all those that I come into contact with to do the same. Say, YES first, then take action!

What Can You Do…

So, what can you do? I am going to ask that you take 30 minutes and identify one area where you are facing opposition or challenges – whether it is at work, at home, or anywhere you are a leading a project. Look at each of the eight steps above and identify how you can say YES in that situation! It may simply be to accept the change. Or, maybe you will need to work on building a positive relationship. After, you spend these 30 minutes, GO DO IT!  

II would love to share your story on the POWER OF YES in my upcoming book! Send me an email with your story on being resilient.