High Performance Leadership

  Some problems are actually negotiations -- you can't solve them until someone else agrees. High performance leaders spend more time building agreements. -- doug smith

Everybody wants something. Some people seem to want everything, or at least everything that interferes with what we want. That's a problem. And when what causes us a problem turns out to be an advantage, a benefit, a payoff...for someone else the problem is compounded.  If your problem is someone else's benefit don't expect them to help you solve it. Find another way to provide the benefit first, and then maybe they'll listen. -- doug smith  

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

Problems are signs of life. Keep living. Keep giving those problems all they can handle. You've got this. -- doug smith

You don't need to be the first to come up with the solution to a problem for the solution to work. Stay open to the ideas of others and you never know when brilliance may come your way. Collaborate the work to celebrate the success. -- doug smith

If you have the same problem that you had a year ago you have not yet found the real problem. Keep digging. -- doug smith

You might not solve that problem by talking about it, but what if you did? Centered problem solvers create dialogue. They listen and share in order to reach mutual understanding. The first step to mutual agreement on the solution to a problem is to understand the problem AND each other. Got a problem? Talk about it. -- doug smith

How many problems could stand up to you using all of your clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion? Not many, my friend. Not many at all. High performance leaders solve problems. What are we waiting for? -- doug smith

It's annoying. It's in need of attention. It's a distraction. And - it's an opportunity! A problem is a platform for your advancement. Get on board and move forward! -- doug smith

How does it feel like when your mind is foggy? For me, fogginess happens when there are an overwhelming number of choices, or possibilities, or the problem seems to cut so deep that only a tourniquet will help. Fogginess can also come from incomplete thinking - we stop at a place that makes sense to our unseen bias, and move forward without looking for other facts. Flaws in our thinking develop when our thinking is misdirected (it was true about something else so it must be true about this), polluted (that advertisement is just SO convincing), corrupted (it might not be exactly right but it's good for me), and any of dozens of factors that fog our thoughts. The flaw that blocks you knocks you off center. The flaw that deceives you leaves you without a real solution. Find the flaw in your thinking while you can still find it, or the problem is yours to keep. -- doug smith Level Up It's challenging to think about what we think about. Our minds don't always se...

How much of that difficult problem is our own doing? Do you remember the last time you caused yourself your own problem? I seem to do it enough that it's like a secret power: cue up the situation, make it more complicated, then dig my way out. I've learned to check in on what part of the problem I have contributed to. Rather than blaming someone else (they don't want the blame and it's probably not true anyway) it's better to see how the problem is built of smaller pieces and that some of those pieces came from your closest source: yourself. Think it thru, I tell myself, think it thru. Breathe. Figure it out. What did I do to create this situation and what can I change to improve or solve it? Problem solving sometimes requires a level of self-examination we are reluctant to try. But sometimes going deep inside is the only way out. -- doug smith

We call lots of things problems that really are not problems at all. If we know the solution and can immediately solve the situation, it's not exactly a problem, is it? If money can fix it and we have enough money for the situation, then it's not a problem (I know, the lack of money can certainly be a problem). If we haven't prioritized the situation and it requires our attention, it's not so much a problem as a choice. Yes, we have lots of problems. Let's just be careful about avoiding a situation by labeling it a problem. It's not a problem just because it doesn't fit into your agenda. -- doug smith

High performance leaders solve problems. They know that there are no perfect processes and there sure ARE a lot of imperfect problems. Focused on results, we solve problems. When we do, I've learned to keep this in mind. Whatever your solution, it will affect people. Some will like the change, and many will not. Whether or not the solution works could very well depend on how well people receive it, implement it, and support it. To win the support of people, keep them in mind. Make sure that your solution is good for the process AND good for the people. Avoid trimming the fun out of a project at the expense of the people, just to save a dime. Avoid cutting organizations so such a lean point that people suffer from the burden. Take care of people. At the end of the day, whether you are fixing a process, developing a product, or even changing the world...isn't it all about the people? Take care of the people as well as the problem. None of it matters without people. --...

Solving a problem gives you confidence, and that's useful. The challenge is that the next problem is brand new. The previous solution likely won't work. The previous process toward reaching that solution might not even work. The new problem is new. Stay creative. Stay centered. Focus on what you want and find ways to bring that about. We may not be able to solve our next problem with the solution that worked for the previous problem. -- doug smith

Taking a problem personally just makes it harder to solve. You've got the problem, AND you've got the upset. Shake free of the upset when you can (hint: always) and stop taking it personally. The solution is waiting for you to discover/invent/explore it -- do that instead of making stuff up in your head about how it's all about...you. Taking a problem personally just makes it harder to solve. -- doug smith

Change can be slow. We plod along. Or, increasingly so, things can change abruptly fast, spinning our heads, altering our internal landscape. Problems give us a window to a better way. Left unaddressed, most problems will just get worse. But, give attention, focus, and a new direction, problems can send us toward a better way of doing things. Maybe we don't need better gas milage -- maybe we need new ways to fuel our transportation. Maybe we don't need tighter immigration laws --  maybe we need to solve the problems that send people away from their homeland. Maybes abound, and certainties are hard to find. Still, every problem is whispering in our ears, "solve me and see how good it can be." Problems are shortcuts to a better future. Take those shortcuts. -- doug smith

Even high performance leaders can get stuck trying to solve a problem. Tough resistance stands against the solutions tried and keep the problem around. What makes that problem so tough? What is it that stands in the way? What if it's you? (or me, I must ask myself!) What if the part of the problem that's so hard to solve reflects that part of you that you don't want to change? You might need to change! -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action: Think about a problem that you are struggling with. What can you change about YOURSELF that might wiggle you free from this stasis?

Problems pile up. Answer hide. Frustration builds. Still, there are always more answers. There are always more possibilities. Our biggest challenge is to give up before we have explored enough possibilities to find a winner. There's a winner (or two or more) in there. Keep digging. Keep generating ideas. Keep focused on possibilities. We may never run out of problems but we'll also never exhaust our possibilities for solving them. -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action: Stay curious!

When the direction is unclear, when the heat seems unbearable, when the pressure is crushing you, when the problems stack high like a looming tower, put the problem into perspective: A problem is there to challenge you, not break you. Meet the challenge. -- doug smith

We don't have to solve every problem to be successful, but it's hard to be successful without solving some problems. -- Doug Smith