The other day I was riding my Fliteboard (electric surfboard) on the lake and I realized I hadn’t crashed much. I knew if I hadn’t crashed I was playing it too safe and wasn’t getting better. So I tried tighter turns. Then I tried to foil while laying on the board – could you even do that? I tried…and flipped my eyelids inside out with water when I crashed face first. Now I know.
In your personal life or in business, if you only try things that are a sure thing, you will be quite normal, and not innovate.
Swing the bat. Try to find what works. You will find a lot of what doesn’t – and that’s ok because you will stop doing those things. What you will find, sooner or later, are things that work really well – and those things you will stick with for a long time and they will more than makeup for your mistakes.
Don’t bet the whole company on wild ideas unless you’re going down. But try things you don’t know will work. Learn fast. Adjust. Keep trying.