There is no secret sauce or framework with a trademark. There’s no twelve-step program or infographic listing the “Three Things my Toddler Taught Me.”
Stop. Look. Listen. Think. Do.
The Do is the important part. We can’t talk the problem into submission. But we have to identify the problem before solving it.
Stop
Start by slowing down. Take a breath.
There’s no need for a hug, but there is a need to carve out some time because most problems become harder exactly because you are moving too quickly to see them.
Look
What is actually happening?
Not the Business Plan. Not the Employee Handbook. And not the org chart that probably hasn’t been updated since the business plan.
The way work gets done in the real world.
The answers lie in the gap between the way you think your business operates, and how it actually operates.
Listen
… to what everyone has stopped saying directly any more.
If the answers lie in the gaps, the solutions likely lie in your people, because they tell us why things are.
What are their frustrations, what have they stopped telling management, what do they wish someone would fix, what are they compensating for every day and what would they change?
They don’t want a bean bag and a foosball table.
Think
What matters?
Not every problem needs a solution and not everything needs fixing.
Some things are so important that they should be written down. Some things are too complex and need cutting down. Some things are ridiculous and need letting go. Some things need to find their proper home. Some things work perfectly well if people just stopped tinkering with them.
These things are not labeled.
The skill is knowing the difference.
Do
Did you skip right to this part? Or did you just want to? Because now we get to do the thing.
To make deliberate change.
Not all of them, at least not all at once.
The right ones.
Calmly.
Anybody can create change.
The challenge is creating useful change.
If you’ve already decided what the answer is, you probably don’t need me.
If you’re genuinely curious about what’s going on, we should talk.