It is said that when Caesar invaded England, he burned his boats to let his men know that there was no way home. The only options were victory or death. For most of us, the idea of cutting off all retreat is unnerving. We like to keep our options open, to have a back door escape, to have a way out.
Escape hatches, however, can undermine our success. When it comes to the promises we make, it helps us keep them if we cultivate a “no alternative” attitude in which failure is not an option. One way to do this is to root out any talk about “I’ll try”, or “I’ll do my best”, or “I’ll see”. I have a friend Blair who has a habit of saying “No problem” in response to the requests made of him. When I first heard Blair say that, I asked, “How can you say ‘no problem’ when you don’t know if it can be done?” His response was “If I go into something with that point of view, I am much more open to what is required and willing to take it on because I was the one who said it wan’t going to be a problem. This doesn’t mean it won’t take work or that there won’t be setbacks, there almost always are, it’s just that it gives me a different context in which to work than ‘I’ll try.” For Blair, saying “no problem” was a way of burning the boats.
Another way to create a “no alternative” attitude is to make promises to people you would never consider not keeping it. Stephanie, a manager, wanted to hire a staff person. Her boss, however, was unwilling to commit the additional resources. Undeterred, Stephanie promised that if the goal for which the staff person was being hired was not achieved, then her boss could not only assign the staff person to someone else, but also reduce her development budget (a big deal in this organization). By making this promise, which her boss accepted, Stephanie was burning the boats.
If you’re serious about making and keeping a promise, take a tip from Caesar: he wasn’t interested in trying, he was interested in conquest. As Yoda, the Jedi master in Star Wars said to Luke Skywalker “Do or do not. There is no try.” If you want more than half-hearted efforts from people, find a way to help them burn the boats.
