Have you ever invested your heart and soul into a project only to find out that nobody wanted it?
Me too.
Did you ever do it again with the same result?
Yeah, I’ve done that too.
In some cases, you didn’t spend the time to get the word out. You didn’t do proper “marketing.” In other cases, you made something to satisfy your curiosity, to scratch your itch. In either case, however, there is a certain amount of disappointment that comes from a lack of success (e.g. sales?) in the market.
No doubt we all have many excellent projects stewing in the back of our minds.
Some will never extend beyond the tinkering category. No one will ever want them (they probably won’t even know about them) and an occasional passerby will think it’s interesting.
Other ideas are potentially game changing, but they too will remain as mere tinkerings unless we get out there and do something different. We cannot only scratch our intellectual or creative itches, we must connect with others. We must find a way to help our projects connect to the public and solve their problems. Not ours.
Furthermore, when our ideas connect to the rest of the world, we will gain a greater satisfaction from the work we do.
4 Responses to The Difference Between Tinkering and Success?
Joe L says:
“solve their problems. Not ours.” … Bingo.
If you get really good, you solve their probelms before they know they have them. This goes beyond developing an innovative solution and competing on cost. Find the need gap and fill that white space!
Chris Allport says:
Well said, my friend! Since my DeLorean is in the shop, do you have any recommendations on how to do this better?
Jean Burgess says:
But you never know when your tinkering might connect with someone else’s tinkering and one day become the solution to the problem that everyone was waiting/hoping for, often when you least expect it; sometimes when you’ve labelled it a “No-Go.” And voila – a success! And suddenly there’s no difference between tinkering and success, is there?
Chris Allport says:
Excellent point, Jean. And that does happen! My premise was really about learning from our mistakes and being more intentional about putting things out there. My very last sentence really hints at the point I was originally going to make with the article…an exercise that I left to the reader.
If we seek projects that tickle our fancies, then we actually come up short because we directed all of this time and effort into something that provided no value to others. And, if we didn’t reap all of our joy from the creation process, then we are left somewhat unsatisfied. On the other hand, even if the project is mundane, if we start by addressing the needs of others, we will find much more satisfaction in the life that the project takes on after it leaves our hands.
Guess that would have made a better blog post. 😉