The Power of The Restart

Remember when you were a child playing a game, and things didn't go as planned? Maybe you weren't ready, the clock didn't start, or something else was off. You would yell out, "Redo, Redo!" Everyone and everything would return to their original state, and you would resume the game.

Well, sometimes in life, you need to call a "Redo" and restart a job, career, life choice, etc. In this article, we will choose to focus on professional restarts.

It's important to remember that the need for a professional restart is not uncommon. Many professionals find themselves in situations where they miss a project deadline, take on too many responsibilities, or the team is struggling to meet demands. Or, they could be experiencing incredible success, but need to rebuild the system or process to ensure continued growth. These are all valid reasons for a restart, and you are not alone in this.

Our history pages are filled with stories of people who restarted their lives, companies, or projects. Abraham Lincoln, James Dyson, Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Arden, Milton Hershey, and Walt Disney are just a few of the individuals who recognized the need to restart. Their stories serve as a reminder that a restart can lead to incredible growth and success.

The first step in the restart process is evaluating the situation. Spend some time reflecting on lessons learned before creating a new plan. In most situations, we need to restart due to misaligned expectations or insufficient resources required to accomplish the goal. Resetting goals and using your previous experience to inform the process of acquiring the proper resources is crucial.

Remember, a restart is not a setback but an opportunity to apply your learnings and grow. If your original plan was to work up from a 5K to a marathon over six months, and you only got to a 10K after five months of training, the more thoughtful 'restart plan' would be to find a new marathon date that worked with your plan rather than trying to cram everything in four weeks.

The second step is to have a greater sense of humility and ask people for input. Remember, you don't have to go through this restart alone. Seeking advice and guidance from others can provide valuable insights and support, making the restart process smoother and more successful. Be open to new ideas and perspectives. Use impartial natural curiosity to examine why things didn't go as planned so you can learn from the experience. Think about all the new and improved ways you could accomplish your goal if you could start with a blank page!

The third step is to reconnect with the "why" of your goal. What was the reason you initially selected the goal? Has anything changed between then and now? Is it still a valid goal? If not, what should be the new goal? Why does it matter to you? These types of questions are truly important if you start a lot of projects but fail to see them through to their natural conclusion. There are some of us who love the thrill of a new project but may get bored or disconnected from the project when it becomes routine, or there isn't anything to learn.

The fourth step is to create a new plan. Use your lived experience from previous attempts, along with the learning gleaned from asking questions, to build a more substantial plan for success. Incorporate mini-goals into the plan, along with checkpoints, to ensure that you are both measuring and meeting your goals. One critical step is to include potential alternatives now so you have viable pre-planned options that you thought out. One way to do that is to ask yourself, "If this doesn't happen, what should we do?" or "When we hit this point in the process, what could we do to keep moving forward?" An example of this type of planning could look like this:

"Earning this work-related certificate is really important to me. I tried to study for at least 5 hours a week to pass it, but I am not learning what I need to pass it. I am going to find a study partner at work who is also interested and find time for us to study together. If I don't see improvement in my practice test in four weeks, I will hire a professional tutor to help me improve my scores."

The fourth step is knowing that you will have to make trade-offs and sacrifices. The expression "Insanity is doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome" should be playing over and over in your mind if you are unable to achieve the desired results. Don't be afraid to make the bold and creative decision, but be sure that you do it thoughtfully. An example of this type of thinking might look like this:

"We have been growing our business by 30% year over year for the past five years. Our current manufacturing process is not equipped to meet the growth demand, so we need to rethink our process. It's going to be tough because our team is giving their all but we don't have enough resources to just scale production with more humans. We asked for their input six months ago and made minor tweaks but it's not enough. It's time we hire an outside firm to help us automate the process so we can scale more efficiently. This may mean having to make tough decisions, but we need to do this to help the company grow"

The fifth step is to communicate. Change is hard, and restarts are the hardest type of change as they require summoning energy and commitment to chase after something that hasn't worked in the past. Clear and frequent communication about the why of the goal and the change in the how we accomplish the goal with all involved will help tremendously. Don't be frustrated when others around you don't get the vision. They weren't the ones up all night wrestling with the need to restart and the various alternatives. They weren't with you on the journey of rediscovering the why of the project, so they may not be as excited as you are when you tell them that it's time to restart. It's OK. Help them discover their why inside of the bigger why, and they will be on board with the plan.

The last step in the process is knowing that there is no last step. Restarts can and should happen all the time. Prepare for them and welcome them when they occur. The more comfortable you become with change and your ability to master it, the better a leader you will become.

Where have you had to "restart" something in your life? What lessons did you learn that you wish you knew before hand? What advice would you give to someone who is restarting something in their life?