How to Find Solutions without Getting Sucked into Problems
Suppose a leader’s team chronically under-performs. How might you help?
The beginning of transformation:
Pain and frustration are opportunities for transformation.
Success that breeds contentment destroys the future. Painful failure inspires openness to change.
But there’s a trap.
The trap that prevents transformation:
Helpers don’t help when they get sucked into problem analysis.
There’s limited usefulness to questions like:
- What’s wrong?
- What’s not working?
- What’s the problem?
People and teams move in the direction of their conversations. Negative conversations have gravitational pull.
A problem is just the beginning.
There’s an alternative to getting dragged into the darkness.
Choose bright:
Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.
An example of a ‘want’ question: “If the team was functioning as you hoped, what behaviors would you see?”
Beware the wrong answer. Leaders are tempted to respond with results-based answers, rather than behavior-based answers.
The wrong answer is, “The team would meet their goals on time.” The right answer addresses topics like…
- New ways to interact with each other in team meetings.
- Team responses to success and failure.
- Individual behaviors that strengthen team dynamics.
- Enhancing individual performance.
- Clarity about goals, responsibilities, values, and methods.
The power of confusion:
Confusion is the point of growth, if you embrace it.
When exploring new options, listen for, “I don’t know.” Only an irresponsible leader would know the right thing to do, but NOT do it.
Cheer when a struggling leader says, “I don’t know.”
Responding to, “I don’t know.”:
- Honor openness. “Thanks for saying that.”
- Turn them into an adviser. “What advice would you give me, if our roles were reversed?”
- “What would your favorite boss from the past suggest?”
- “Well, if you DID know, what would you do?”
- “Who might know?” Send them on a wisdom-seeking mission.
What strategies help under-performers turn around?
What traps hinder the growth and development of individuals and teams?
Ok, I might have said this before in other posts. Since I’ve stopped looking at problems and calling them all challenges both myself and the team approach what we are challenged with in a better way. We are not perfect as no one is but if one moves from problems to challenges one aligns with a more positive approach to what is presented to solve. We no longer attempt to solve problems we take on challenges and do the best we can. A problem is something one sees on a math test. A challenge is something we all see in life around us every waking hour. Stop calling them problems and shift to challenges and you will see incremental positive change in your team.
Thanks Roger. There’s surprising power in how we craft our language. We still have to speak honestly and sincerely, but we can adjust our focus and language in ways that enhance performance. thanks for sharing
HOW TO FIND SOLUTIONS WITHOUT GETTING SUCKED INTO PROBLEMS–The first question I like to ask is–Who owns the problem?
Some of my students want to give me their problems–my printer ran out of ink, I lost my book, the dog ate my homework. It’s easy to get sucked into problems when you don’t have clear boundaries.
Some of the under performers that I deal with have strong “negative self talk.” The first step is making them aware of it and taking steps to make it more positive.
Beyond that, I like to have a balanced discussion of “what’s working” and “what’s not working.” There is valuable info on both sides of that coin.
Some teams stop growing and developing because the team leader spends all his/her time working with the team and no time working on the team. Analyzing how well the team is collaborating and working together is important. Identifying which team processes need to be improved to make the team more effective and efficient is critical for continued growth.
What traps hinder the growth and development of individuals and teams?
Having a fixed mind set and not willing to embrace the new and unknown.
Great blog today. I see so much of this in leadership and I am always looking for ways to help people get beyond the negative and move to the positive.