Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: Get Out of the Box!

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading...How many times have you heard the definition of insanity? You know the one I mean: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This used to be an unusual quote, one that was rarely heard, but seldom a week goes by that I don’t have someone recite it to me. I hear it so often it's become what I call a “unique cliché,” people think they are being original when they say it, and some even say it like they just thought it up, but, in reality, it is almost as worn-out as an old saw.

The phrase may be repeated more often these days, but no one seems to take it to heart. We do the same things over and over again expecting different results. Very little thinking is done outside the box in our industry; this is something I deal with all of the time. People just have a very hard time changing. We are creatures of habit who just love the warm and fuzzy feeling of our comfort zones so much that it's difficult for us to even think about sticking our little toe outside of it. This is why there's so little success in our industry today. We're afraid to take risks, even calculated risks. We're afraid of what will happen even before there's a chance of it happening.

While we’re talking about clichés, here is one that certainly applies to us today: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” I say amen to that! FDR got us through the Great Depression using that philosophy and later used it again to get us through WWII. That sentiment certainly applies to us.

Ask yourself these questions:

When someone on your team suggests trying something new, what is your first reaction? If you’re honest, you’ll admit that the first thing you do is try to figure all the reasons why this idea will not work. You immediately start listing these reasons just to make sure that there's no chance in hell you will embrace this idea, thus killing any chances of changing, or any chance of leaving your comfort zone.

How about when you hear that another company is doing something differently, and that something is making them successful? What is your first thought? Once again, you come up with all the reasons why it can’t work, and then if the person you're talking to insists that it's working, you’ll insist that the company is lying about its success. And then, if it's proven to you the idea is a good one and the company who came up with it is, in fact, succeeding, you come up with a reason why it might be working for their company, but would never work for yours.

Admit it. I’m right, aren’t I? This is exactly what you do, isn’t it? Did you ever ask yourself why that is? Are you afraid of doing anything new and different? Are you sticking to your guns because if you start doing things differently it means you’re doing them wrong now? Or is it that you've just lost the initiative to try something new and go off in another direction?

Look, I get it; change is hard, particularly when there are no guarantees that change will be positive. You could try something new and it could go wrong--you could screw things up and, in the end, things would be worse than they are today. But that’s not going to happen if you do the following:

First, think about a new idea with an open and accepting mind. Instead of trying to figure out what’s wrong with the idea, think about what’s right with it. Take your thought pattern all the way to where the idea could work. Envision what your company will look like once the idea is fully implemented. If you like what you see, do it!

But (here's the important part) once you decide that the idea has true merit, get behind it with everything you’ve got. An idea is only that--an idea--until you make it a reality and that can only happen with a great deal of passion and perseverance. You must be all in or not at all. You must lead your team in the idea’s implementation with undying dedication and commitment. In short, you must be the champion of the idea and fight to get it implemented.

With the right amount of effort and the right amount of teamwork, your idea will be implemented and your company will change for the better. You will have left that comfort zone for the first time in a long time, maybe the first time since you started the company. I can guarantee you this: Change won’t be easy, but it will be worth it to leave that box. It’s only common sense.