Blind persistence

Persistence is like a sword; it helps us cut through the challenges and resistance. As a culture, we praise the heroes that persisted through challenging times to come up victorious in the end.

The workplace teaches us planning is necessary. It helps us clarify and identify what we intend on doing, what we expect our destination to be, and when we expect to reach it. It pushes us to focus only on what’s important to achieve our goals.

With a plan in mind, persistence is like a sword; it helps us cut through the challenges and resistance. As a culture, we praise the heroes that persisted through challenging times to come up victorious in the end. Persistence can become a badge of honour.

When used unwisely, persistence, just as a double-edged sword, can cut us deep. When the plan becomes the goal and perseverance comes into play, we get blinded and stuck on a path that might no longer be useful to us. 

The inability to recognize a necessary shift in our approach, a deviation from the plan, can be costly. Being too focused on execution blinds us to new opportunities. We miss out on what didn’t look like the original plan.

Every time we use blind persistence, we only end up hurting ourselves and missing out on possible ways and opportunities to bring us to our destination in new and exciting ways. 

Maybe we need persistence in reaching our destination, and flexibility and adaptability in our plan to get there.

What opportunities have you missed out on by being too persistent with your original plan?

Miguel,
Sparknotion – Think Differently.