"I Can't Do That" Is a Lie: The Ultimate Power of Pure Motivation
Article | July 2025
We've all heard the excuses, perhaps even said them ourselves: "I'm not very good at dancing." "Maths has never been my thing." "I've never understood how to make a great Bolognese." We accept these as fixed limitations, inherent abilities (or lack thereof). We shrug and move on.
But what if I told you that, for most people, "I can't" is simply a smokescreen for "I don't have a compelling enough reason to learn"?
Imagine that very same person faces an absurd ultimatum: You have two weeks to learn how to dance, master calculus, or perfect a Bolognese, or you will never see your loved ones again.
Guess what happens next?
Guess who will be dancing down the street, utterly unselfconscious, their feet suddenly finding rhythm. Guess who will be chanting about Pythagoras theorems on the way to the store, numbers finally making perfect sense. Guess who will be buying another 10 kilos of carrots to perfect the next batch of soffritto, utterly obsessed with the nuances of flavor and texture.
The Truth Bomb: Motivation Drives the "How"
This extreme scenario reveals a profound, yet often ignored, truth: Motivation – a powerful, deeply personal "why" – is the ultimate driver of human learning and adaptation. The "how" is almost always a consequence of a strong enough "why."
We often mistake a lack of burning motivation for a lack of talent or capability. We focus on training programs for "skills gaps," when the real gap is often one of purpose, urgency, or emotional connection. If the stakes are high enough, if the why is truly personal and impactful, humans are wired to figure out the how, no matter how complex.
The Business World's Blind Spot: Missing the Human Engine
This isn't just about cooking or dancing. This is a critical blind spot in leadership, skill development, and digital transformation across every industry.
Skills Aren't Innate, They're Acquired: We lament "skills shortages" when often, the missing ingredient is a leader who can ignite the personal motivation for employees to acquire those skills.
Change Resistance Isn't Stubbornness: When your team resists a new system or process, it's rarely because they're inherently "resistant to change." It's because you haven't given them a compelling, deeply felt "why" that matters to them.
The Cost of Low Stakes: If the "why" for learning a new system, adopting a new process, or engaging with a new strategy feels abstract or distant (e.g., "to improve quarterly metrics"), the motivation to master the "how" will be equally low.
Your competitors who grasp this are unleashing untapped potential, building agile teams, and leaving you behind. The clock is ticking – are you focusing on the right levers?
Stop Blaming "Ability": Your Hands-On Action Plan
It's time to stop lamenting skill gaps and start igniting human drive. Here's what you MUST do, right now:
Uncover the Personal "Why": For every major change, project, or new skill, articulate the company's "why" clearly. But then, work with individuals and teams to help them find their personal why. How does it make their job easier? More meaningful? More secure? Connect it to their individual growth, purpose, or impact.
Raise the Stakes (Realistically!): Not with ultimatums, but with genuine impact. Show the consequences of not learning or adapting – not as a threat, but as a shared challenge. Show the direct, positive impact of doing it – for customers, for team success, for individual career growth.
Lead with Passion and Purpose: Your own conviction is contagious. If you are genuinely passionate about the "why," your team is far more likely to absorb that energy and find their own motivation to master the "how."
Remove Obstacles, Don't Just Offer Training: People want to learn when motivated. Identify and remove the real barriers – time, resources, fear of failure, lack of support – that prevent them from applying their newfound motivation.
The greatest untapped resource in your organization isn't a new technology; it's the raw, unyielding power of human motivation. Stop accepting "I can't" as a fixed reality. Start igniting the "why," and watch your people surprise you with what they can do. Act now, or risk being outmaneuvered by organizations that truly understand what makes humans tick.