First off, my employer is publicity shy and I’m forbidden from discussing our customers, so I’m going to be vague with the specifics, but you’ll still get my point.

We build widgets for Acme. It’s my job to design and maintain the tests for the widgets. Acme pays for any test equipment we buy. A manager here wanted a dozen more widget testers. We all knew Acme would shoot it down, but we needed an email from them saying they were going to shoot it down so as to trigger higher ups into action. In short I had to spend about half a day requesting and reviewing quotes and writing justifications knowing full well I’d get a big fat “No”.

I used the opportunity to train another engineer in this task. I let him go through all of the motions and now he knows how to request quotes and justify purchases to Acme. Since the answer was going to be “No” I wasn’t worried too much about “quality control” with his numbers, so it was the perfect training opportunity.

a) want to get it over and done with quickly and move on; or
b) have fun and take a risk! Like others have said, it would be freeing – you could do the project the way YOU want to do it, say what you want to say, and not worry what others think. Because you’ve got nothing to lose!

It reminds me of that scene in Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray is in a car with two men, and he says to them something like “What would you do if there was no tomorrow?”. Their response – “We could do whatever we wanted!”

I guess if I knew I was going to fail, I’d probably try moving to another state or another city; so that I knew I always had home to come back to.

I would start a company because I know I would learn a ton along the way.

Well, strategically, I would figure out WIIFM. If I have to do it and fail, there has to be some sort of return. If there is no return, I will probably look for the easiest way out.

However, if there is a return on my investment (of time or money) I would make sure I get the most out of it, take my lessons and apply them the next time. Especially if it means that the next time, I won’t fail!

Nice twist Stever,

L

If a man can leap 8ft and you ask him to leap 20ft then he will think you’re an idiot and won’t even try. However if you ask him to leap 10ft then he’ll likely make the effort.

So to my answer: I love lateral thinking and if I’m brainstorming then I’d say “Let’s all imagine that we can actually leap 20ft – how do we get it done?”. On the other hand, if I’m assigning a task then it needs to be realistic, measurable and achievable.

Kind Regards
Steve

Success (according to my grandfather – who was president of a VERY successful cigar company) was 70% very hard work but you needed a big dose of luck as well – he gave it about 30%. He was a realist in the sense that without a hefty dose of good fortune, most businesses will fail. He felt that might depress people, but he also felt that it was important for those on top to realize that it wasn’t “all them” – an attitude he considered arrogant and short-sighted.