In response to the posts on, “Leadership / Lonely,” a reader writes:

“I loved this comment.

But I have to add, sometimes you just have to fake it till you feel it.”

SC Comment
You are absolutely right. “Fake it till you make it,” may be the most important, practical problem solving strategy you can employ. There is not one of us that knows the answer to every problem, which leaves everyone with two primary choices when faced with a novel situation.

1. Do nothing
2. Do something

If you consistently do nothing, you and your team, campus, or organization will find itself falling further behind the pack. Soon your actions morph into nothing but re-actions and before you know it, you are simply a victim of fate and external variables of which you think that you have no control. You also quit making meaningful deposits into your experience bank. Without realizing it you turn yourself into the person that has 10 years of first year experience.

On the other hand, if you do something, you will find yourself operating with incomplete information and a limited skill set. You will have to adjust on the fly, think quicker, and act more decisively (than the average educator) just to have a chance at success. By necessity you will fake it until your experience and skill set catches up with the problem, at which time you will have made it. Repeat the process and soon you and you team, school, or organization will be operating ahead of the pack. You will be dictating the discussion and in comparison to your peers, you will be much more in charge of your destiny. You will be one of the fortunate few that are able to gain 2, 3 or 4 “years” of experience in a single year’s time.

Or as I recently explained it to one principal, “solve problems at full speed and make your own luck.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…