High Performance Leadership

Have you heard the expression "analysis paralysis"? It is often said derisively about people who over analyze and then do not put into action any of their conclusions. Perfectionists tend to keep looking for more data. But sometimes we have not analyzed enough. When we give up, our analysis has been incomplete. When we are disloyal, our analysis has been flawed. When our problems remain unsolved, our analysis has been ineffective. Problems without solutions have not yet been fully analyzed. Once the right answer appears, why wouldn't you act on it? So think about it. Not too much -- but think about it. That solution is in there somewhere. -- Doug Smith

Have you ever tried to solve a problem by finding the person to blame? How did that work? It doesn't work for me. I will admit occasionally thinking "this is all their fault" and carrying around that little unproductive burden. It doesn't help. Finding the solution to a problem usually does not require assessing blame. If it helps you find the root cause of the problem, the action then is not to assess that blame but to solve the root cause. Those are very different actions. "It's all your fault so fix it" is very different than "I've noticed that when you are abrupt with a customer that they sometimes stop buying our services. What is creating the need for being abrupt? How can we provide a better conversation for the customer?" Face it: no one will take the blame for your problem. Solve it without the blame. What problem have you been blaming someone else for? What if you worked on fixing the problem collaboratively? -- Doug...

What was your most recent leap of faith? Did you make any assumptions about how it would turn out? Did those assumptions prove true? I consider myself to be a man of faith and so I know that at times faith is all that will get me through. There are challenges so big (changing jobs, moving to a new city, getting married) that only a leap of faith will get me past the the anxiety of deciding. But, not every decision requires a leap of faith, nor should it. Most decisions need as much data as faith. Maybe even more data than faith. We do better by analyzing the facts, checking the risks, weighing our options, and expanding our possibilities than simply "trusting the universe" to give us what we want. News flash: the universe doesn't care what we want. Our decisions create our results, not the stars in the sky. A true leap of faith offers no escape, no safety net, and no excuses. If you're ready for that, then go ahead and make a leap of faith. But, if you hav...

Did you know that many problems have two secret ingredients? No, it's not a special sauce or patented process. The secret ingredients are two things that hide under all the symptoms and cloud a problem solvers focus on the situation. Centered problem solvers figure out what are the secret ingredients and how they are effecting the ideas being created, the pain being felt, the reactions of the people involved. Very often there are two secret ingredients: Problems have one or both: a solution and/or a viable use. Sometimes people don't want to solve what is framed as a problem because it already serves their needs. They like it. A person may not see the injustice in unequal distribution of resources if they have all the resources they need. A person may not see hunger as a problem if they eat in fine restaurants every night. A person may not see unhappy customers as a problem if the work is easier when the customer goes away. The viable use could even be sensible, usefu...

Do good intentions always lead to good outcomes? Unfortunately, the best intentions of people sometimes lead to exactly the opposite of what they wanted. Or, they lead to what they wanted but to resistance and conflict from other people. Most problems started with good intentions. When we are working to solve problems it can be helpful to discover those intentions. Analyze the situation clearly enough to uncover what people really want. Identify the goal behind the problem. It's much more positive to work to achieve a noble goal that we can agree on than try to throw countless solutions at symptoms. Talk about the intentions. Reach agreement on mutually beneficial outcomes. Then develop solutions. Leverage those good intentions into high performance leadership and optimize your results. It works. -- Douglas Brent Smith Interested in optimizing your results? Contact me today about bringing our workshop Solving Problems to your location.

Are you faced with a hard choice? A hard choice is one we don't want to make, and yet realize that sooner or later we need to. It could be making that big career change. It could be ending a destructive relationship. It could be selling that car that costs too much to keep repairing. Make the choice. Moving on is the direction of growth. Gathering the facts, discovering the reality of the situation, and making the choice is the way to go. We might need to get creative to do it. It may take all of our creative juice just to figure out a better way, but there is always a better way. A creative act may close a door or two but it will soon open thousands of possibilities. And possibilities are what we want. Positive, energized, growing possibilities. This all becomes easier when our goals are clear. When we know where we're headed -- and we're willing to do the hard work it takes to get there -- any distraction is more easily exposed. Choices become more clear. Make...

Have you noticed that it feels easier to understand someone else's problem than your own? Maybe the solutions pop up faster, too. You have that sense of impartial perspective, that clarity of thought that could be so useful on your own problems. That's why we involve other people. It's one of many reasons to involve other people. Other people give us another perspective, more energy, accountability, focus, and new ideas. Almost anybody's problem is easier to understand than your own. Why not get the help you need? -- Douglas Brent Smith

Photo by Stephen Downes, at downes.ca Have you ever had a problem linger for years because there was no perfect solution? What about a partial solution? What if we found something that worked fast, even if it was incomplete? What if we stopped giving a problem the right to rule our lives? The search for a perfect solution can keep a problem alive for years. It could be a sign that you or your group doesn't really want to solve the problem. It could be a sign that there IS no perfect solution. What if you found a solution that worked fairly well and got you headed in the right direction to eventually eliminate the problem? Sometimes the search perfection can slow us down. Your solution just needs to be good enough to make things better. Isn't that what you want? -- Douglas Brent Smith

How do you feel after solving a problem?  Usually, there is a rush of joy when I think I have a problem licked. The effort, the work, the time feels altogether worth it. But, sometimes there can be a lingering doubt. There can be a flicker of uncertainty. The faint sounds of the problem still ticking away are heard. Maybe that problem isn't solved after all. Maybe there is still work to do. Sometimes our inner radar will tell us. Centered leaders have ways of knowing when their center is still off. Balance is impossible to fake. If you don't feel better after solving a problem maybe you haven't solved the problem. Ready to go back to work? -- Douglas Brent Smith

When do you stop collecting data? How do you know when you have what you need to move forward or to make a decision? I can tend toward analytical and as a result never tire of checking for more data. But, sometimes we need to move ahead. Sometimes we need to take action and adjust as we go along. One of the keys to progress i knowing how much data is enough. The data alone might not tell you. It might take you making a decision to move. After all, that data could change anyway. And, data is only useful if you use it. -- Douglas Brent Smith

With so many problems to choose from, which do you pick to solve first? Some people like to build momentum by moving from smallest problem to biggest problem. If this works for you and you're happy with the results, keep doing it. Other people find that once they start with small problems or easy to do tasks that they get stuck there. It becomes too hard to move forward. If this is you, you're probably ready for something different. How about going right for the biggest payoff? When I worked at GE we used a tool called the Payoff / Effort matrix. With so much to work on, we used this tool to determine where to start. Should we put extra effort into something that would provide little payoff? Clearly, not when the same effort could produce more payoff in another area. Solve the problems that provide the biggest payoff first. Not only will you get your biggest problem solved, but you will likely find that you now have more resources and energy to solve other problem...

Do you roll with your instincts? Trust your impulses? Rely on your sixth sense? Instincts can serve us well. They can also be flat wrong. How do you know? How can you tell? Practice. Research. Learn. Trust your instincts, but prove them carefully with data. The further you get pulled from testing your point of view, the tougher it is to save you from yourself when things go sideways. And things will go sideways. How do you test your instincts? -- Douglas Brent Smith

Do you spend much of your time solving problems? Are you tempted to jump to solutions before you've truly understood the problem? It's nothing to feel guilty about. Most of us do it most of the time: jumping to fast solutions before we see all the threads of the garment stuck around our necks. Throwing light into the darkness and missing the shadows behind us. Stumbling thru the caves of our intentions and forgetting the vision that led us to this mountain to begin with. That's why I enjoyed the short blog entry here: The Real Roots of Problem Solving I especially like this observation: "Problem solving does not start with brainstorming options; brainstorming is only effective when it is preceded by clarity, focus, and understanding." Exactly. That's why in the problem solving process we use at FRL it starts with FOCUS. It's important to know what it is you are looking for. What is the ideal state? Then we move to ANALYZE. What's going ...