From Case Studies to Action
Creative bootstrappers tend to follow this pattern:
- Seek out a case study where we observe someone else executing a project in impressive fashion.
- Inspired, we identify parallels between their journey and ours.
- We snap into action, starting a similar project of our own. We bridge the gap between that initial case study and our final product by leveraging our knowledge, skills, experience, and creativity.
In other words, the only way we truly advance in our craft is by using a combination of consumption and action. The consumption part is only the first half of the lesson. We don’t truly learn until we take action, apply the ideas we picked up from observing others, and adapt them in our own way. Only when we see the results of our own actions, in our own context, have we truly learned a lesson that will stick.
This concept has been at top of my mind for some time now (this is not my first attempt at writing about it).
Finally, Seth Godin expressed this concept in a much more succinct and insightful way than I ever could:
You are surrounded by examples and lessons and case studies that clearly aren’t exactly about your project. There’s never been a book written precisely about the situation you are facing right now, either. Perhaps one day they will publish, “Marketing Low-Cost Coaching Services to Small Businesses Specializing in Graphic Design in the Upper Peninsula for Dummies” but don’t hold your breath.