Whenever I speak in front of people, I always say, “There’s the right way to do it, then there’s the way everyone actually does it.”
So often, we think we need to do thing the right way. If we want to publish a book, we talk to a publisher, present our proposal, and wait for them to say yes. If we want to ask someone for help we think we need to become friends with them and wait for them to offer assistance. If we want a job we go through the interview process and hope they say yes.
But the problem with doing things the “right” way is that everyone’s doing it that way. It’s hard to get a yes when everyone’s asking the same question and hoping the same thing. That’s why I prefer going a different route.
The folks who really get things done in their lives rarely do things the “right” way.
- My friend Tim, who successfully published his own book, didn’t go through a publisher. He self-published. Then the publisher bought his book and it’s still going strong.
- My brother started Summit Leaders and got Mark Batterson to go on his first trip as the speaker. He should have gone through Mark’s secretary, but instead he just guessed at Mark’s email address and sent him a cold call email sharing the vision.
Doing things the “right” way is often the worst possible way to approach a more complex activity. People often set up roadblocks and systems to keep themselves from getting overwhelmed with requests.
That’s why you do it different.
How can you approach your project the wrong way?
