High Performance Leadership

Are you feeling a little busy? Are there more problems than you can juggle at once? It feels new, and yet the world has always had unsolved problems waiting for your help. There are more people now, many more, and that does make a difference. Everything is multiplied.  Which makes you even more important than ever. The world will always need centered problem solvers. Are you ready? -- doug smith

When was the last time one of your assumptions was wrong? It's so easy to jump to conclusions. We fill-in-the-blanks so many times in so many ways because it's just part of being human. But, when we assume that things are not going in our favor, when maybe there is no reason to, we do ourselves no service. This is a picture of a recent training room for one of my workshops. It was day two of the two-day workshop and since the hotel staff had in the past forgotten to unlock the door to my room. I arrived, and sure enough the door was locked. Rather than get upset (something I might have experienced in the past) I calmly contacted the hotel staff and politely, yet assertively, asked to have my door unlocked. "I can do that, sir," said a polite maintenance gentleman, "but you could also just walk in thru that second, open door..." "Oh. Gee. Thanks!" That was just a little embarrassing. Just about fifteen feet from the locked door was an o...

The creative problem solver in you always has more solutions than you need. -- Doug Smith

In your dreams do you find yourself solving problems? We glamorize dreams. We think of them coming true easily. But is that the reality? Or is the situation really about hard work, solving problems and achieving your goals? Living your dreams is not about conclusions so much as it is about process. The process of living your dreams involves getting better each day, working harder than you've ever worked before, and persisting even when the odds are against you (especially when the odds are against you!) Living your dream is probably going to increase your need to solve problems creatively. The problems will emerge, whether you like it or not. Are you ready to dream creatively, think creatively, and work creatively? Good. Let's get started. -- Doug Smith

If that problem has been around awhile, if that problem is cagey to the point of making you scratch your head, you might need many solutions. Many ideas. Creative, centered problem solvers stay with the process long enough to develop more solutions that any one problem needs. The gold is deep. Keep digging. -- Doug Smith

Do problems from your past trouble you? I've sometimes found myself in a pattern of drudging up old problems from the past, as if they had anything at all to do with the present situation. They don't. Oh, they can certainly complicate things. And old problems will stick around as long as you invite them to. Don't invite them. The problems of our past belong in the past. Let's leave them there. Drop them like the dead weight they are. When we fully resolve a present day problem it stops popping up in the future. So if past problems are popping up, maybe they aren't resolved. Resolve them. Retire them. Let them go. But, keeping them around sucks all the energy out of the room and has the problem solving effect of tying your shoes together. Why do that?' Did you solve that problem? If so, let it go. If no, you know where to go: back to the plan to finish the job. -- Doug Smith

Do you want to bring more creativity to your problem solving? I would guess that the answer is "of course!" More creativity leads to better solutions. Oh, yes and it's more fun. Can problem solving be fun? Absolutely, but only if you bring enough creativity into the process to get past the aggravation and move forward to the fun. Creative problem solving requires creative practice. Find ways to sharpen your creativity. Find ways off line. Go for a walk. Visit a museum. Draw a picture. Make up a joke (that's harder than it might seem). Create! This is your coaches prodding, working on you in this moment: go create something! Practice your creativity the way a great pianist practices their art and craft of playing the piano. You've got you keep your fingers on the keys. Go! -- Doug Smith

Creative problem solving is at the heart of your best future. Solving problems by developing new solutions is something that high performance leaders do best. To build and energize their teams, and to equip them best for solving problems, high performance leaders work constantly to improve the communication on their team. Better communication comes about through deeper conversations, more productive meetings, and more powerful presentations. That takes learning and practice. That takes honesty and effort. High performance leaders realize there is really no such thing as over-communicating. Most problems find progress once you improve the communication. How will you improve the communication in your team this week? -- Doug Smith

Do you ever keep coming up with the same unlikely solutions to a problem? What if you looked at it differently? What if you saw the problem as a creative challenge? Turn it upside down. Twist your intended results around. Think of it as a benefit to some unidentified journey. Turn that movie's unhappy ending into a surprisingly happy one. Mix it up. Mash it up. Paint it a better color. Turn off the color and see it in black and white. What does that have to do with problem solving? When solutions elude us we need better solutions. Think creatively, act creatively, reconfigure creatively. How much easier would it be to solve that problem if you saw it with a fresh, creative perspective? After all, if you haven't fixed it yet, it's time for something new. Some Sample Creative Problem Bending Questions How could I get MORE of this problem? Who on earth might LOVE this problem? What makes me think that the results are undesirable? What could I do that would c...

Have you surprised yourself today? Boo! Nah, I don't mean like that. What creative ideas have occurred to you? What brand new actions emerged today? Creativity benefits from frequent encounters with the unexpected. It's that painting that distorts the way we see faces. It's that bridge that goes nowhere. It's that snowman in Miami. People surprise me, sometimes. When a friend says something unexpected and kind, it generates a burst of creative energy that propels me forward. Suddenly my goals seem more achievable. When a collaborator suggests an idea that surprises me completely I get a sense of confusion followed by profound delight. It's a possibility! It's creative! And, there's no way in the world I would have thought of it without this surprise. Surprise yourself, often. Expose yourself to people and ideas that would not normally come your way. Find the connections. Creativity thrives on the unexpected. It's hard to plan to surprise yo...

How long do you want to stay stuck on that big problem of yours? You know the right answer: not long. Here's another answer to consider: no longer. Let's solve that sucker today. What does it take? Things to think about include staying centered (it's harder to solve a problem when we're a problem) and staying creative. A problem is just a reason to develop new ideas. A problem is just a way to build better processes. A problem is just a way to grow deeper relationships. Creative problem solving presumes you don't want to stay stuck. You don't want to stay stuck. Not when creativity is there for you to use right now. Stop judging, start sparking, and see what happens. That big problem has a big solution. You just haven't thought of it yet. -- Doug Smith PS I suppose that it is possible that you have thought of the solution but just not implemented it yet. If that's the case, what you need is an assertive action plan and then to act relent...

Where do you test your best creative ideas? Not all creative ideas are the same. Some require a sort of close inspection with careful boundaries and controlled conditions, otherwise they will become impossible to work with or change into something we hadn't counted on. But not all creative ideas are like that. Some creative ideas benefit from a quick planting and careful observance to see how they're doing but are left to grow on their own. We tend to them, we remove obstacles and aberrations, but we let them grow naturally. Some creative ideas need a garden and some need a laboratory. If no one can get hurt, if you you've got lots of time, and if you want the unexpected to be welcome, plant your creative ideas in a garden like atmosphere of freedom and spontaneity. If the risks are high, the conditions are dangerous, and the talent is exposed to sudden change keep a laboratory-like grip on your creative conditions. Focus your attention on them but don't let...

What happens when we use the same solution over and over even when the problems change? We don't really solve new problems that way do we? And yet so often we pull the same old tools out of our tool box and try the same old solutions. New problems require new thinking. New problems require new solutions. It's funny how we sometimes keep trying to same solution on totally new problems. Funny, but not effective. Let's do better than that. Let's be more creative. Let's develop new ideas. How do we do that? Here are a few ways: turn your idea upside down - how would it work reversed? ask other experts what they think ask people who are NOT experts what they think look at the problem as if you were ten years old again. What would you do? reframe your problem as a goal. How could you achieve that goal. rethink your problem as a benefit. What would you do to get more of that problem? Now, how would you reverse that? is the root cause what you think it ...

How much creativity do you bring to your problem solving? I've found that no matter how much creativity I generate on a problem, there is still room for more. Better ideas. Crazier connections. Faster solutions. More pleasing shapes, colors, and sounds. We tend to stop being creative just before the most creative stuff happens. Let's practice staying with that creative flow. Let's stay creative. Every problem is an invitation to get more creative. Why turn that down? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

What's your biggest problem? Will that problem get any smaller on its own? Some people advocate solving lots of little problems in order to generate energy and momentum. I can see the logic to that, and if it's working for you, keep going. I've also seen big problems that stall any progress at all. Team members talk about them. Customers rumor about them. Leaders lose sleep over them. When you've got a problem that big and that troubling, isn't it time to do something constructive about solving it? Solving your biggest problem is the fastest way to grow. How can you take the next step toward solving your biggest problem? -- Doug Smith SOLVING PROBLEMS: Before you even get to the solution stage of a problem, turn it around. Rephrase the problem statement into a goal. Instead of what's troubling you, express the goal that you want to achieve. What's your goal? Ask a close associate if the goal clearly states the situation you want instead o...

Have you ever been so deeply entangled with a problem that you feel like it's become you, or you've become it? I know that I have. Some problems trigger our nerves into a chaotic sense of attachment to trouble. We don't remember choosing it. We wouldn't have asked for it. We didn't reach out to grab it - but there it is, clinging to us so tightly you can't tell us apart. Yuck, eh? We don't want that. We want creative answers, not burdened weights and clinging symptoms. We can do better. We can focus on a problem and work to solve it creatively without making it part of who we are. The problem is NOT who we are. The problem is the problem. Restating the problem as a positive goal to achieve helps, as does keeping our center when the rest of the world spins madly toward trouble. We can do better in steps. We can do better by degrees. We can dramatically do better all at once. Centered leaders focus on a problem without becoming the problem. Stepp...

How much of what we see is filtered by who we are? Probably far more than we ever realize. When we look through the same filters every day, year in and year out, the filters remain invisible. No matter how much our cultural background, education, personality, family, and bias filter our vision we just don't see it. That's beyond amusing - it's dangerous. When we think we're making logical decisions, there's always (always!) something illogical filtering our choices. We need help to see through the filters. We need feedback. We need persistence. We need creative and open minds. Problems provide the opportunity to think beyond our filters, to find truer clarity. When we collaborate on identifying the real causes of our problems - when we ask the right questions, we can penetrate the thick filters of experience and open ourselves to the undiscovered. In there is the magic. In there is the secret. In there is the way beyond our bias. Are you ready to cut throu...

Do you ever hide from yourself? That might sound silly, but I think I've done it. We hide from ourselves when there is something about a problem that we need to solve that is really more about the choices we make that what is happening to us. In other words, sometimes we cause our own problems. We break our own diets. We ignore our own exercise regimen. We avoid the people on our team we most need to talk with. We keep conversations light that need to go much, much deeper. We don't do these things all the time, but when we do, they contribute to (and even cause) the problems in front of us. To solve our toughest problems we must be willing to face our own hidden truths. What kind of hidden truths? That's up to you. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your project goals

How would you define problems? Some people might call problems aggravations. Some people might call them challenges. Have you ever thought of them as signs of life? While we probably would not seek out problems on our own, when we do have them it means we're still breathing! We've still got something to do. We've made it this far with hope for the future. I like to think of that as part of our leadership breathing cycle. We inhale, learning all that we can and enjoying the journey, and we exhale to make room and recharge and grow. Problems are a sign of life. Breathe new air in toward your goals. Then make room for them to happen. What new air do you need to breathe today? Where is your next area of growth? -- Doug Smith High Performance Leadership:  Solving Problems. Achieving Your Goals. doug smith training:  how to achieve your project goals

Are your problems all work and no play? I know how that feels. The more work they seem the less likely I am to work on them, which means that they then don't get solved. That's not what I want. When we look at problem solving as a chore it's not wonder that we avoid it. Why would we ever subject ourselves to actions that cause us discomfort or inordinate amounts of work? But, problems are more than that. In addition to the satisfaction of actually solving a problem, the process of solving a problem can also be filled with joy. The process of solving problems brings us together with those we collaborate. It increases our need (and ability) to be creative. It develops the courage it takes to confront issues. It builds more compassion within us for those who share similar (or worse) problems. And the focus that we can feel while in the process to solve problems helps us to feel even more alive. When we are focused, when we are centered, solving problems makes us more of ...