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How to Remain Focused in Pressure Situations
As a volunteer Disaster Action Team leader for the Los Angeles Region of the American Red Cross, I see a lot of people on the worst day of their lives. Typically we arrive on the scene of a residential fire or flood to find the residents dazed or in a state of shock, unable to think straight. They have no idea what to do, and often they are so overwhelmed that the simplest decisions are beyond them. Our job is two-fold: to provide immediate assistance for their physical needs, and to empower them to make decisions that will aid their recovery. The same type of scenario plays out every day in the workplace. Although employees generally have not suffered the devastating loss that results from a personal disaster, the pressurized situations in which many people work result in the same outcome: feeling so overwhelmed that they become incapable of making decisions. If that stress feeds on itself, the situation can become truly dysfunctional. Here are four techniques I’ve learned by helping people move from victimhood to empowerment that can help you stay focused and remain functional under duress.
Next time the pressure begins to build and you feel that your ability to focus on the project or task at hand is slipping away, try the above techniques. Sometimes taking a momentary break and engaging in some deep breathing will allow you to center yourself. Other times you may need to ask others to help you put the situation into perspective. The point is, you can learn to function in a healthy way even in pressurized situations. To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Archive for April, 2015
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: There’s More than One Approach to Solving Problems
Friday, April 10th, 2015 |
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There’s More than One Approach
Years ago when I was in graduate school, I rented a duplex near the university that was owned by the wife of a marketing professor. Whenever repairs were needed, she sent her husband to fix them. No matter what the problem, he would show up with his trusty roll of duct tape. The day he taped up my oven because it wouldn’t get hot, I had to wonder why in the world an otherwise intelligent person thought that duct tape was the solution to every problem. The answer came in the form of a familiar adage: “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Although he was very competent in the marketing arena, outside the classroom, the professor’s only tool in his toolbox was duct tape. Something similar plays out in the workplace every day. In the U.S., most people are taught to resolve problems using a standard approach: identify the issue, determine its cause, and find ways to solve it. Although this process works well in many situations, it falls short in others. Just as a hammer sometimes is the wrong tool for the job, so too there are times that the traditional problem-solving framework is an ineffective option. Imagine this scenario: you’ve just gotten a call from a major customer, who reported that a series of mistakes by your sales team enabled a minor incident to become much more serious. When the team returns to the office, the questions begin: “What went wrong? Who messed up? What happened? Why did you do X instead of Y?” Team members become defensive. Perhaps fingers are pointed and blame is assigned. The heated discussion ends on a very negative note, setting the tone for the rest of the day and beyond. Now imagine an alternative problem-solving approach to the same scenario. Focusing on strengths and past successes, an appreciative framework builds on them to identify ways to improve in the future. The discussion begins with, “What did you do well during that sales call? What or who enabled you to do exactly what you needed to do?” It goes on like this: “Let’s talk about a time when you faced this same situation and you aced it. What did that look like? What did you do then, and how did you do it? How can you repeat that success in the future? What will that look like?” Instead of feeling like they are on the defensive, team members are energized. Asking them about their strengths and their successes reminds them of what it feels like when they are working as a highly effective team. They want to re-capture that experience. Focusing on a desired future instead of on an unchangeable past inspires them to do whatever is necessary to reach that positive outcome every time. In fact, they are highly likely to end up with a much better solution than would have resulted from the traditional problem-solving approach. I am not advocating that you discard the standard problem-solving approach. It remains a valuable tool in many situations. What I am suggesting is that when the oven isn’t heating, you forsake the duct tape for the best tool for the job. The key is to identify which problem-solving approach is most appropriate for a given situation AND to have the skill to shift from one to the other as needed. To learn how you can use the appreciative approach to problem-solving in your organization, take a look at my article An Appreciative Approach to Problem-solving. To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |