Pioneering Possibilities

IV. Summit Four: Pioneer Possibilities
A. That’s Impossible
1. Thank people for being caring enough to look out for your best interests.
2. But then ask, “What if…? What if the thing you’ve always dreamed of doing is possible? How would it feel to be the one who made it happen? What if, by making the impossible possible, you opened a whole new world of opportunities for yourself, your organization, and the people around you?”
3. The first step to greatness is to select an adversity-rich, worthy challenge that will stretch you in new ways and represent new possibilities, if achieved.
4. The second step is to create a plan and engineer the systems that will be the key to helping you get there.
5. The third step is to practice to perfect so you can make those systems work when they count the most.

B. What is Pioneering?
1. Do you spend most of your time doing the tried and true or do you continually invent new ways of getting things done?
2. Plate: “The true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.”
3. Three Steps of Pioneering:
a) Pick a worthy goal
b) Devise signature systems
c) Practice to perfect

C. Pick a Worthy Goal
1. Ask: What if I could do something that has never been done before?
2. Factors to consider:
a) Motivation: Why do you want to do it? Tie it to a higher, grander purpose.
b) Strengths: (Will + Skill = Strengths) To what extent would this goal leverage existing strengths or require the forging of new ones? Do you have the will necessary to achieve this goal?
c) Excitement: How excited does this goal make you?

D. Devise Signature Systems
1. You may need to invent new ways of doing things that are customized to your needs and situation. These solutions become uniquely yours.
2. “If necessity is the mother of invention, then adversity is the parent of our possibilities.”
3. The best solutions are PROPS:
a) Portable: you can take them from place to place.
b) Replicable or Repeatable: they can be readily rebuilt, reused or repeated.
c) Original: they tend to be clever and unique.
d) Personal: they fit and are adapted to you, your unique style and needs.
e) Simple: they require a minimum of steps, hassles, and resources.

E. Practice to Perfect
1. Adapt, revise and improve the systems until they are perfected. Don’t get discouraged but keep at it. Most ingenious systems are the result of tenacity, relentlessness and perseverance, not genius or brilliance.
2. Questions to ask:
a) What are the criteria for an effective Signature System or solution?
b) Where and how can you practice with the new system?
c) What will you try first?
d) How will you refine your solution?
e) Where or how else might you try it?
f) Who can give you helpful feedback?
g) When or how soon can you begin?
h) How long do you need to figure it out?


From: The Adversity Advantage, Paul G. Stoltz and Erik Weihenmayer