This Might Not Work: The Fear of Failure

by Bo McDonald

We’ve lined up some pretty exciting projects for the credit unions we work with in 2013. During the fall my team at YMC has labored endlessly on plans for the New Year. Not only have we set some BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) for some of our credit unions, but we’re working on some pretty big projects. It’s not “marketing as usual” this year for our credit union partners. 2013 will be the year that our partners find their pinnacle of potential and begin reaching for it. On the other hand, it’s some pretty scary stuff.

Recently, author and entrepreneur Seth Godin posted a blog about “going out on a limb.” On writing his new book, Seth blogged: “Will they get it? Will this chapter hit home? Am I too far out on a limb? This might not work.”

“This might not work.” Too often I sit with my team and dream big. I talk myself out of a project because “it might not work.”

Seth went on to say this: “At some level, ‘this might not work’ is at the heart of all important projects, of everything new and worth doing. And it can paralyze us into inaction, into watering down our art and into failing to ship.”

We have several huge projects we are launching for credit unions in 2013. Now, don’t think that the words “this might not work” don’t go through my head. However, given the combination of the trust that our credit unions partners have placed in us, and the endless hours and hard work from my team, “this might not work” is pessimistic hogwash.

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