–Below is a leadership bullet from Tom’s rifle named Shot–
“CAN DO” VERSUS “MAKE DO.” I heard both on the farm. “Can do” meant I can get it done and will. “Make do” meant I can find a way and will. They sound similar, but they are different. Which is better?
In organizations both are valuable and leaders should try to engender both. But in times of crisis—true crisis—one is better. To keep doing the same thing in spite of failure is futile. Yes, even if done harder, faster, or otherwise better. You see, there is time to abandon the former ways—can do—and find a new way—make do. The old ways may be familiar, and even historically successful, but the time comes to drop the old ways and pursue something that will work. Examples (per D. Epstein in Range): firefighters who drop their tools thereby running faster to save their lives, and rocket engineers who dismiss quantitative data in favor of experienced intuition.