Business/Life Survival: Move It & See What Happens!
Oh No! Accident Up Ahead. "We'll be stuck here for hours". What do you do? Curse? Sigh? Take out your cell phone and ruin someone else's productive day because you're bored? Turn on an Audio Learning Program. I must say that's a better choice... particularly if it's my course "Go Wild! Survival Skills for Business and Life"! Just Please tell me that you don't turn and yell at your companion for "going this way".
My # 1 recommendation: Turn off the Engine and Get out of the Car! Here's why! As the song goes you have to "Move it. Move it!" It's what we call Mind/Body Connection. Do you know that you will not change your frustrating mood, until you physically move your body? Yup, for example if you're negotiating with someone who has their hands crossed and feet firmly planted and seems stubborn on a particular point, suggest you go somewhere else . "Hey Bob, let's go for a cup of coffee". Move their body, shift their viewpoint.
This is why I suggest in Customer Service that if you've had a bad call or in-person interaction, take a 2 minute vacation and walk outside. You will not lose that "bad vibe" until you physically move your body. Doesn't this explain those "nasty car fights" with a spouse. Aren't they the absolute worse? Why? There's no place to go in the car! You are cooped up with all of those negative emotions.
So the other day while driving back from the beach, I put the theory into practice and discovered yet another benefit. Stuck, Hot, Not Moving for 15 minutes and No other route possible. This is Costa Rica, so don't expect superhighways when you visit! "Okay" I say to Barry. I'm going to check it out and see what's up". Hot, Sweaty, I walk about 100 meters up ahead.
Aha... I see another way around the traffic standstill...at least for a 4 x 4 vehicle. True, the smaller cars are not moving that are dead ahead in front of us but there is a path for us if we follow that ambulance. It was not visible from our groaning vantage point inside the car, but whoa...we had both forgotten the number one rule of survival in business challenges. Send out your Recon person and scout out the territory . Most importantly, Look at the problem from a different vantage point Our reward: 3 hours of valuable time that would have been wasted (the time it took to clear the truck across the roadway). My husband, a native New Yorker who absolutely hates traffic gave me a rousing "Yippee" for my excellent navigation.
So a simple rule of the road: Look for ways around obstacles. In my creative and strategic thinking workshop, I call this being "Solution Oriented, not Problem Focused". I also talk about not just accepting what's in front of you and what everyone else including your competitors are doing, but seeking that different view point where ideas and solutions present themselves via shifted vision.
Another lesson: Don't always accept what looks to be the case and make assumptions about which way you should go because of existing traffic patterns. Sometimes when the sign post in front of you says (No U-Turn) it actually might mean No--You Turn!
Now to WOW! Leadership, Customer Service & Strategic Thinking Workshops
Comments