Adam Savage, the co-host of MythBusters describes how he learned to repair his car in an article in Wired magazine. He says: ‘Every repair followed the same progression: (1) I don’t know how, (2) I can’t afford to pay someone else to do it, (3) I have to do it, (4) hey, that wasn’t so hard!’.
It reminded me of the progression we all go through when we’re first delegated something: (1) I don’t know how, (2) I have to do it, (3) hey, that wasn’t so hard! There are some thing we’ll never understand. No matter how I try, I’ll never be good at calculus. But I have learned how to work out percentage change, by practice, practice and more practice.
The sub-heading of the article was: “The more complicated the project, the more potentially awesome the outcome – but first you need the courage to try”. In the early days of this new year, maybe it’s time to take on something new, knowing that at first it’ll be hard, and that with practice, it’ll get easier.