“Move fast and break things.” “When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.”

There’s always been lots of talk about how it’s okay to fail, in pursuit of success - but when you’re self-employed, the idea of embracing failure is a little harder to swallow, than when you’re an employee with a company that’s got your back.

Whilst learning from failures is invaluable, actively leaning in to risky experiments can feel much harder when your personal livelihood is on the line.

So, a useful framework from my innovation days is the “70:20:10” rule.

70% of your time spent on business as usual, 20% of your time pushing into new spaces, and 10% of your time can go on more risky outlandish bets.

When freelancing - perhaps this means building a portfolio of offerings, some which are core to what you already do, and some are stepping into new areas. Perhaps it means spreading your approach to new business. Perhaps it means trying new things when it comes to engaging with clients.

But the central idea of a proportion of your time being spent on trying new things is crucial. What works today might not work tomorrow, and continually learning and growing helps you develop as a freelancer.

Do you have an ‘innovation mindset’ for your approach to freelancing?

https://www.itonics-innovation.com/blog/702010-rule-of-innovation