Do hammers work?

Maybe you’ve said this before:

Does it work?

Did anyone else find success with it?

I know why we ask these questions. We’re trying to mitigate the risk before we get started. Or perhaps we started, didn’t see any success, and now we’re wondering if the thing itself was the reason why.

This is all wasted effort, and it plagues creators and marketers alike. It anchors us to the status quo, to the competition, and to things already attempted before. We break zero new ground, and we focus on the wrong things.

The next time you plan to ask, “Does it work?”, replace “it” with one word: hammer.

Do hammers work?

Did anyone find success with hammers?

You’d never ask that question! Think about why.

Do hammers work?

What answers are you expecting from others?

Um, sure? Yes. No. A little bit. Some. A lot. Sometimes. For some people. In some ways.

It depends. It’s just a tool.

What are YOU trying to build? What’s it for? Who’s it for? Why are you building it?

Maybe ask those questions first. You’ll probably discover you’ll never need to ask about “it” ever again. After all, when was the last time you asked about hammers?

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