Tip #10: Something is Working, so Work That.

I got a call today from a former client in the music industry. That business, as one of many now, has suffered a radical halt. NO live performances for the foreseeable future. No live performances = no audiences, no ticket sales, no sponsors, no artists, no vendors, no staff, empty venues, etc. About 80% of his staff were recently laid off. Very stressful and demanding times indeed.

"Max", as we’ll call him, overall was articulate about what was happening. It was, after all, week 9 of the pandemic and he said he felt they had done what was needed for now and that the rebuilding/reimaging process was underway. He was doing everything a resilient leader could do at this time, but a new thing popped up that caught him off guard and took him off his game. That one thing is why he called me; he was feeling pessimistic. Max is usually an upbeat and action-orientated guy and now all the wind had left his sails. He was a bit disorientated as to how to dig in for this next phase with so many things broken, gone, changed. So, I asked him a simple question,

"What is working now?"

At first he thought I hadn’t heard him and I wasn’t paying attention to all the incredibly difficult things he had just told me. He repeated the hard choices and the losses he had to take to make sure I understood.

I said "I hear you Max and I understand things are very trying, but you called me for help. So, my question to you is WHAT IS WORKING? Surely to do all that you’ve done these past months, something had to be functioning."

And that’s when I got that moment coaches wait for...that pregnant, thoughtful pause. I knew then that we were going to sort this out.

Let me explain the method behind the apparently "odd" question. Looking at what is working reverses the traditional problem-solving method. Instead of looking at what the problem is and what is not working, asking "What is Working?" builds upon the positive, motivating factors of a situation.

It forces our minds to start searching for evidence like best practices, silver linings, unexpected partners, new collaborations, quicker decision making, sudden shortcuts that could become good process improvements. We can increase our awareness of personal strengths and characteristics as well as identify external forces or resources. Basically, we start treasure hunting.

Max left the conversation feeling more resourceful, hopeful and motivated. So, my question to you is:

What’s working?