I spent the better part of this weekend working on science fair projects. Not mine, of course, but on those of my children.

Gone are the days of simple cut, paste and color activities. Yes, we’ve moved up to actual projects that require thought AND creativity in addition to the general knowledge of basic science concepts.

I don’t know about you, but it’s been a long time since I’ve needed to challenge my brain like that with a science application.

My daughter’s was easy. We simply had to determine how much salt needed to be added to a cup of water to make a fresh egg float. I say fresh because we also found out this weekend that bad eggs float regardless of what additives are in the cup of water.

My son’s on the other hand?

Well, he decided that he wanted to see what types of fruits and vegetables could power a clock. We found the instructions on the internet. We watched numerous YouTube videos of other children successfully completing this experiment. But do you think that we could do it?

And I say we, because after Matthew tried, unsuccessfully, I stepped in.

I’m not a dumb woman by any stretch of the means. I made numerous trips to the hardware store making sure that our nails really were galvanized and obtaining different types of alligator clips and various gages of copper wire.

To no avail, our clock still won’t power up. (Neither will the MP3 player or calculator we tried either.)

Matthew documented everything that he did. He took time to create his project board. Not once did he give up on this project and this morning when I dropped him off at school, project in hand, he was proud of what he did.

And so was I.

At any point in time this weekend, either of us could’ve given up, but we didn’t. We kept going. We exhausted every resource that we had, called every person in my phone book, made multiple trips to stores, tried various combinations until we were fresh out of ideas. Even this morning, we were fiddling with it, trying to make it work.

He completed his project and it was good. The effort he put into his project was leaps and bounds better than many of the projects that I saw on display this morning in the gym.

When I spoke to the teacher and explained to him that it just didn’t go right, his teacher told me that the grade is not in the outcome of the project itself, but in the actual work done to complete the project.

So for Matthew? His less than perfect clock powered by a spud will receive a good grade.

Because he didn’t give up.

Because he tried his hardest.

And for that? He will be rewarded.

So, I ask you today, what have you been struggling with in your business? What makes you want to give up? Have you exhausted all of your resources yet?

If you answered no, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and see how else you can attack this. What else can you do to try one more time?

Then ask yourself, does it have to be perfect? Is what you have right now the best that you’re going to get and what can you do with it?

Don’t give up. Find a different angle.

For that? You will truly be revolutionary.