If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!
Have you ever had an idea that you believed in, but failed after execution? I am in that situation right now. For 2015, I decided to host a reading challenge, where participants read a book a week for 52 weeks. To me, it seemed like an easy enough challenge since on average I read three books each week. The idea for the reading challenge came out of a good place, me wanting to make a difference in other people’s lives.
I have mentioned several times about feeling depressed after hearing Don Tapscott say that more jobs will be lost to robotics. The answer to staying relevant in the workplace is ongoing learning, and doing original work. Although the reading challenge is not working as intended, I still believe that my idea is sound, but the way that I executed was flawed, and I should not have made the assumptions that I did. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
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Assumption 1: Because I find it easy to read more than one book each week, does not mean that it will be easy for others. In fact, several people decided not to join the challenge because they felt that reading a book each week was a lot. Although the reading challenge is to read a book each week, I should have made it clear that it would be okay for participants to read less than four books each month. If a participant is not accustomed to reading any books, and she starts to read one book a month, that is still success for her.
Assumption 2: Because someone commits to a goal, doesn’t mean that she will necessarily follow through. A few people committed to reading a book a week, and started off strong, but life got in the way.
Assumption 3: Because I am very self-directed, doesn’t mean that most people are carbon copies of me. Some people need assistance to complete the goals that they commit to. I have a LinkedIn Group, Leaders are Great Readers, where members can summarize the books they read. I would post articles about how to read more, how to read, and any other topics that I felt would help them to read a book a week, but obviously that wasn’t enough.
During the last week of January 2015, I signed up for Sarah Arrow’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge, and I am on Day 29. Though I have been blogging for almost six years, I joined the challenge because I thought there was room for improvement. As an introvert, I notice a lot of things. There are several things that Sarah and her husband Kevin are doing right. For instance, each morning, participants of the blogging challenge receive a prompt, which gives them information to help them become a better blogger. So that could be how to write better calls to action, leave more effective comments, or even how to create infographics. In the postscript of the email, she often has an encouraging call to action such as “PS remember open the emails, act on the emails, post in the Facebook group, leave a comment.”
Additionally, Sarah Arrow’s husband, Kevin, supports the 30-Day Blogging Challenge. After completing each week of the Challenge, Kevin awards each successful participant a virtual trophy, and other participants cheer on your accomplishment.
It makes you want to continue because there are others rooting for you, who want you to succeed. It’s an amazing feeling, that sense of community, being part of something wonderful. All the activities take place in a Facebook group.
By participating in the 30 Day Blogging Challenge, I saw everything that I could be doing much better for my Reading Challenge. For instance, before a participant starts the Reading Challenge, there is some pre-work. Since the point of the Challenge is for participants to become more valuable to themselves and employers, they should do a needs assessment to find any skills gap to fill.
The work-related books to read should address the gaps. Or if they want to develop a new skill, they have to read books that teach them those skills. I could also assist them in determining which books are the best ones for them to read. After participants read four books, they are supposed to compare the four books to each other to make connections among them, and this is where the true value of the Challenge comes in – connecting ideas.
Another big requirement of the reading challenge is to read broadly, which includes reading books written by authors born in many countries. So for a month, weekly prompts could be encouraging people to read books by authors from four different countries. Another month, weekly prompts could encourage participants to not only read books by authors born in four different countries, but the books could also be from four genres. Doing this engages people, help them to get to the finish line, and become more knowledgeable in the process. Imagine the sense of accomplishment knowing that you have read 52 books, knowing that 30 of them were written by authors from countries other than your own. Despite sending weekly prompts, there will still be people who do not finish for various reasons, but more people will get to the finish line with a little bit of coaching and mentoring.
People can still join the reading challenge, but behind the scenes, I will be working to make it better. My heart is in the right place, my intent is good, but I need to push myself to do more so others can experience the benefits of reading books. For the weekly prompts, I already have some posts that will work well.
It’s okay to fail, it is a fact of life, but you have to learn the lessons, then move on. Remember, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. When you experience failure, allow some time to elapse, so that you can objectively look at the situation. What did you do well, what didn’t you do so well? Is it a situation where it is best to abandon the project? Or can you salvage it and transform it into what it can become? What are some potential barriers to success? How can you cut or work around the barriers? Do you need help to make the project a success? If yes, do you have access to the people who can assist? If not, who in your network can introduce you to the right people to collaborate with?
By thinking through and answering the questions, failure doesn’t have to be a show stopper, it can give you what you need to succeed. There is truth to the adage that if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
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