Do Or Do Not

No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.

Part of YodasTeaching, advice to young Luke Skywalker on how to use duct tape to patch up his X-Wing.

[just double checked the quotation off my VHS copy. -- DanilSuits ]

Feel Good Approach

This is something similar to "trying is the first step towards failure". The whole point is about how a situation is approached.

Would this be related to PlayingToWinVsPlayingNotToLose??

I would think so. The point of the statement is that the right frame of mind is half the battle. The fact that this statement is a bit of a ZenSlap is a bonus. Most people don't like to be told this as they feel that their best is good enough. Unfortunately, good intentions never produced business value.

If they do their best, what more can be asked of them? If the people you have cannot do the job, then it's the manager's failure

I got a variation of this from my highschool volleyball coach, when he challenged me to try to take a ball from his hand. No, that's taking the ball. No, that's not taking the ball.

If they do their best ...

There is a story (TheTigerAndTheCaveman?) that metaphorically explores some of our popular "feel good" management slogans and holds them up against the light of reality. Tigers don't care about "doing your best" or self esteem. When you both want the cave, effectiveness is the only answer.

The guys at despair.com have a pretty good handle on the whole "culture of feel good management" thing.

http://despair.com/fail24x30pri.html

Question of Choice

CategoryComparisons