Feeling Stuck: Time for a fresh perspective

We won't get out of tough situations with the same perspective that got us in

“What do you think the problem is?” I asked him.

One of the teams my client was apart of, simply wasn’t performing to its fullest capacity, and we needed to make adjustments quickly.

I asked him what he thought the problem was, not only because I thought this would lead us to the solution, but because I was curious to know how HE was viewing the situation.

What we see is tied to our vantage point. Where I am standing will directly impact how I view an object, and if someone is sitting at another vantage point, they will see the very same thing in a different light.

When working with teams, it is important not only to see the issue at hand objectively (if that is even something that is possible is another conversation for another day) but to understand how everyone in the team is viewing it as well.

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Different ways to see the world

At Clevertech I lead a training that we find useful called the Enneagram. It’s a way to understand the vantage point each person is viewing the world from.

There are 9 Enneagram types and the perspective that each of these types holds impacts how they see the world, how they approach problem solving, how they communicate and strategies they use to get their basic human needs met.

It’s helpful to understand what our habitual patterns are, so we can decide if those patterns are effective some of the time, all of the time or most of the time. Once we figure this out, we can choose other patterns when our default pattern just isn’t cutting it.

If we take this idea one step forward, understanding how each member of the team is viewing the project objective, and evaluating how their approach might impact the project will allow us to more skillfully use the team, motivate them and accomplish our ultimate collective goal.

Seeing the world through their eyes

Here are a few questions I like to ask when I am leading a team. These questions help me understand their vantage point and approach so I know what to look out for: if there are any potential conflicts between how they might see and approach our project and the collective goal. It helps me know what strengths they can bring and it allows MY perspective to expand as I listen to and include their vantage point along with my own.

1. What do you see as our biggest blocker on this project?

2. How would you solve for this?

3. What frustrates you the most when working on a team?

4. What lights you up when you are in the zone?

5. Do you lean more toward collaboration or independent work?

6. Are you stronger with process or with ideation?

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, they simply help me understand how they view the world and the project. I am beginning to see the world through their lens.

Different not better

The biggest trick to engaging in this practice is to remember we are all different and there is no universally better approach, but each approach does come with its own unique impact.

The team member who is very direct in their communication because they value efficiency is not necessarily better than the team member who has lengthier conversations about a problem. The direct approach allows us to move quickly and the lengthier approach can help us uncover some important ideas and insights.

What’s important is that we explore the IMPACT of these differences. If we need to move quickly, and the tasks to solve are pretty straightforward, taking time and over thinking and making things more complicated and slower than they need to be is an IMPACT we don’t want.

In a different scenario, when there is strategic decision to be made about architecture, a longer discussion that goes deep and considers multiple perspectives is going to give us the IMPACT that is much more valuable.

When we hold each vantage point and approach as simply a different approach that gives us a different impact we can see each one as a unique tool - we want as many tools as we can have, so that we have options and an expanded perspective, but not every approach is appropriate or equally valuable depending on the outcome we want.

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Putting this into action

After letting my client give several hypothesis on what they thought the problem was, I could tell he was getting more and more frustrated - almost like he was talking in circles.

“It could be this, but we have no way of knowing for sure. It could also be impacted by this other thing, but unless we test it, we won’t have certainty.”

Finally I pressed in and said: “What action or conversation could you have next, that would give you just a bit more clarity?”

Pulling back from having to solve the entire problem from a limited vantage point, and instead inviting my client to simply get more information was like a breath of fresh air to the conversation.

He realized that another member of the team, who had a different role, slightly different priorities, and other tools available to them might be the key. He decided to reach out and lead with curiosity.

After the conversation he returned to me, not with a final and conclusive solution to the problem, but with enough of an expanded view that he could begin to test one of the more promising theories he had and move forward.

You can’t get out with the same tools that got you in

Often times we try to solve a problem with the same logic and tools that got us into the problem in the first place. Doubling down on our own limited perspective and resources usually keeps us stuck.

Expanding your vantage point, exploring the other resources within the team, and looking at the problem from a different perspective can be JUST what is needed to find our way.

Nothing worse than feeling stuck. What are some challenges you are facing? We’d love to tackle the issues that matter most to you in our future newsletters.