When Should You Aim?

Fire. Ready. Aim.

It’s a common enough phrase, and it describes the manner in which people or organizations jump before knowing where they will land. It describes those instances where there was no strategy or thought into a goal before one starts an activity.

We make fun of those people, and the silly mistakes they make. But consider this story:

The Young Archer

A young archer spent years honing his skills, with the hopes of earning a medal at the annual festival in the countryside. His every spare moment went into practice, and the collection of the finest wood and materials for his bow, and even into the study and forecasting of the wind.

Finally, he was ready to make the journey to the faraway competition.

When we was three days out, he began to see signs that he was on the right road. Occasionally, he’d find a target painted on a tree, with an arrow protruding from the middle. Seeing the opportunity to keep his skills fresh, he fired a few shots into the center of those targets and moved along.

Two days away, he started seeing more of the trees with the arrows sticking out of the bulls eyes. “My competitors appear to be skilled and consistent. I hope to be worthy,” he muttered to himself. The young archer took a few more practice shots and continued his long ride.

The next day, and one day before his arrival for the contest, he came upon a farmhouse in a meadow. The farmhouse was covered in targets, as was the neighboring barn. Every target was decorated with a single arrow sticking out of the middle. Knowing that he would have no chance against such an opponent, he swallowed his pride and decided to learn what he could from this master.

He knocked on the door, and a much older man answered. “Can you please show me how you are able to perform such feats?” the young man asked. “Sure,” replied the old farmer. Then the old man picked up a wretched old bow, and a single arrow that could not in any way be considered straight. “Follow me.”

The old man walked into the clearing, and faced the side of the barn. The young archer was taking mental notes, wanting to see how the old man tempered his breathing and his tremors; if there was some technique to better gauge the distance. The young man was about to ask a question about hesitation and focus when the old farmer quickly pulled back the string and fired the arrow straight into the broad side of the barn.

He then walked to the wall, reached through a window to grab a small can of paint, and proceeded to draw circles around the arrow on the wall.

The False Mandate

Yes, we make fun of those who shoot first and ask questions later (or those who jump into a new technology or tactic without a plan for success.) But how often do we allow the Perfect to be the enemy of the Good Enough?

I talked with a group yesterday about presentation skills, and there was a question about the best way to order your points during a talk.

The truth is, when it comes to persuasion and communication, there are often thousands of possible answers, and most of them are right! Do we tell is chronologically, or in order of importance? Save the most important point for the end, or get it out front? How many slides are too many, or too little?

You can get bogged down in the ten thousand things, and miss the obvious: that your audience isn’t interested in the backstory. They only see the result. Pick the path that suits you, then make sure that everything else leading that way is painted to match.

It takes tremendous skill to hit a target that someone else chooses.

Don’t discount the skill involved in selecting a target for yourself, and committing to it.