Think, Talk, Do
I have been investing a significant amount of time since I returned from Africa trying to learn as much as I can about the social enterprise market. I attended an amazing conference and have continued to network with numerous individuals trying to make a difference. In one of my recent conversations I mentioned to a friend that we needed to stop spending time with people that are thinking about making change, or people that are talking about making change, but we needed to focus our energies on those that are actually making change. Which brings me to the title of this post.
Over my career I have met thousands of people and most will fall into one of three categories, with a few that cover all three. The first category are people that think about solving problems but never take action. Then there are those that talk about solving problems but they don’t do anything about it either. The ones that get everything accomplished are the ones that just do! Maybe Nike had a good idea with their slogan.
So, it makes me think about the work we are focused on in Uganda and other parts of the world. I am tired of spending time with individuals that want to think about change, or those that want to talk about it, I need to spend time with those that are doing it. What is really cool is that when you find those people amazing things can happen.
I have been in a business partnership for more than 16 years and recently we were talking about why the relationship has stayed together for so long. Much of the reason boils down to the fact that we spend a significant amount of time thinking and talking about issues, but we both are huge doers. We focus on getting things done and not leaving things for long periods of time. When you are a smart doer than you push the envelope, make mistakes, learn from your mistakes and move forward.
If any change is going to happen in the world it is going to happen because somebody did something. Now, thinking and talking are important, but doing is what gets results. So, if you are a doer I applaud you and hope that you continue to do!
‘Til next time …….
Larry Kesslin 