Getting Unstuck.
8 Activities to Get Unstuck
We all find ourselves stuck at different times in our jobs and our lives. These 8 activities can help get us unstuck. None are my creation and where I know the source I give credit below.
Identifying where you are stuck.
I want…. And so activity
Name something you want to be true that is not currently true. Start a sentence with I want________.
“I want to be able to offer top quality YL in every school and neighborhood in Chicagoland”
At the end of that statement write but and finish the sentence with the obstacle that gets in the way.
“I want to be able to offer top quality YL in every school and neighborhood in Chicagoland but our traditional funding model consistently leaves us short of our financial needs.”
Cross out the word but change it to and, change the period to a comma and write the word so
“I want to be able to offer top quality YL in every school and neighborhood in Chicagoland but and our traditional funding model consistently leaves us short of our financial needs, so”
Complete the sentence with what you are going to do about that challenge.
“I want to be able to offer top quality YL in every school and neighborhood in Chicagoland and our traditional funding model consistently leaves us short of our financial needs, so we will do the work to adjust our funding model across the region creating a more equitable model”
Creating Actionable Items
5 Minutes, 5 Days, 5 Weeks, 5 Months
Once you have identified a place where you are stuck, break down the challenge into these time frames and brainstorm in each category. What can I/we do in the next 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months?
Act like an Ant
Chapter from 9 Things You Simply Must Do by Henry Cloud
Getting others to move to action
Do, Know, Feel, Believe
Answer these 4 questions
What do you want them to DO?
What do they need to KNOW in order to do what you want them to do?
What do they need to BELIEVE in order to do what you want them to do?
What do they want to FEEL in order to do what you want them to do?
Personal or Team behavioral change
Stop, Start, Keep
Use this for personal review or to invite feedback with a team. Choose a period of time, or a recent event and as these three questions? What should we STOP doing? What should we START doing that we are not currently doing? What should we KEEP doing?
Reflection Questions for getting unstuck
* From The Answer to How is Yes by Peter Block
What price am I willing to pay?
What is the promise I’m willing to make that constitutes a risk or major shift for me?
What is the promise I am unwilling to make?
What is the crossroads you face at this stage of the game?
What is the story you keep telling about the problems of leading?
What is your contribution to the very thing you complain about?
Create a To Don’t List
In order to create space to do the things that truly matter we must know what we simply won’t do. These may be things that once served you but no longer do.
Simply put, it’s a list of tasks you don’t do, no matter what. You delete them, delegate them, outsource them, or simply say no when they try to find their way on your to-do list.
A very well thought out not-to-do list should help you maintain better focus and only perform tasks that create the greatest value; as well as to be more realistic that you are focused on the most important tasks at least 80 % of the time.
Creating Momentum
Ask yourself, “What’s working and how do we do more of it?”
Switch by Chip and Dan Heath (Chapter 2)