SLC-S29/W5-“Thinking and Ideas!| Ideas That Failed (and Why)!

Hello everyone!

Image by Matthieu Gouton from Pixabay

Today I am here to participate in the challenge of thinking and ideas organized by @ninapenda. If you want to join then:

Join Here: SLC-S29/W5-“Thinking and Ideas!| Ideas That Failed (and Why)!”

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Ideas That Failed (and Why)

I completely agree that failure does not mean the idea was wrong. But sometimes it means understanding was incomplete due to which it became failed. I agree that failure is more educational than the success. Success gives us confidence but the failure gives clarity. It forces us to examine our assumptions. It forces us to observe our timing and ego as well.

1. Describe an idea, plan, or decision that failed

AN idea that failed for me was starting a structured online learning group for the skills development. The concept was simple to gather motivated individuals. It was to set weekly goals and assign practical tasks and hold everyone accountable for that. The idea looked powerful on the table.

At the beginning many people showed great interest. They were excited. They spoke about discipline. They talked about the growth and consistency. I created schedules and structured the topics. I also divided responsibilities.

But the problem appeared after a few weeks. The participation dropped. The messages became silent.The assignments were incomplete due to loosing interest in it. But some more time the group stopped working. In this way the idea was collapsed but it was not collapsed suddenly but it faded slowly.

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2. What was the original intention behind it?

The original intention was very genuine and positive. I wanted to create an environment. where people could grow together. In this way they would not struggle alone. I believed that accountability and the discussion between the members will help the people ti stay consistent in learning the skills they need.

I also believed that the motivation increases when we are the part of the like minded community. The goal was not competition. But it was the collective improvement.

At its core the intention was to prove that discipline does not require the external pressure. But it can be built through the shared commitment.

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3. Why do you think it failed?

When I look back at the failure I can feel that it happened because of the several reasons. These are given below:

First I overestimated initial enthusiasm.
Interest is not the same as the commitment. Many people like the idea of the growth. But only a few are ready for the discomfort of the effort.

Second I structured it too rigidly.
Instead of adapting to the different paces and the lifestyles I assumed that everyone could follow the same schedule. But I was wrong in my these expectations.

Thirdly did not test the idea on a small scale.

It was another big flaw that I did not test the idea at the small scale. I tried to gather many people at once. Managing the motivation at scale is harder that it looks. So I think we should test the things at the small scale at first before moving towards the large scale.

Image by Justin Kilian from Pixabay

But the important thing is that I realized something deeper is that an idea which completely depends upon the voluntary discipline must account for the inconsistency. The failure was not just logistical but it was psychological.

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4. What would you do differently if given another chance?

If I were give another chance to complete this idea. I would:

• Start with a very small group. It may be consist of three to five persons.
• Focus on the long term habits but not on the weekly performance.
• Make the participation flexible but responsibility personal.
• Spend more time to build the trust before building the structure.

Instead of trying to inspire many people I would first focus on sustaining a few people. It will be easy to manipulate and persuade a few people. I also learned that leadership is not about pushing others in the forward direction. It is about understanding the limits of the people. It is about designing the system that can work withing the human nature.

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Conclusion

The failure humbled me. It showed me that the good intentions are not enough. Planning is not enough. Excitement is not enough. But from this I got a new experience. I do not regret my this attempt.

I learned the following things from that failed idea:

• The real difference between the motivation and discipline.
• The importance of starting the things at the small scale.
• The importance of understanding the people before gathering them.

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I would like to invite @germansailor, @zulbahri, and @sergeyk to join this contest.