How to Get Unstuck with "Catalytic Questioning"

Ever have one of those challenges you're just sick of thinking about?  Where it seems that you're working too hard, and going nowhere fast?

Catalytic Questioning can help you get unstuck. There's a smart article on it in July's HBR that defines a process you can use individually and with teams. 

In a nutshell, here are the steps:

• Check to make sure all involved are intellectually and emotionally connected to the challenge, and truly don't know how to answer it.
• Sit or (better yet) stand in front of a whiteboard or several sheets of flip chart paper. Pick a scribe.  Before starting, take a breath, relax and set aside any mental distractions.
• One at a time, state a question related to the challenge.  The scribe simply writes each question.  At this stage, only questions are allowed - no explanations, comments or answers.  Each person works to provide interesting, provocative and/or important questions.  At times, the well will run dry.  Stick with it for 10-20 minutes, or until you have 50 - 100 questions.  Find the questions no one's asking ... yet.
• When you've exhausted your ability to define questions, take a quick break or stretch.  Come back and identify the most "catalytic" ones - the ones with the potential to disrupt the status quo, or provide entirely different perspectives or solutions. Narrow it down to the 3-4 that matter most.
• Now that you have 3-4 fresh lines of inquiry, go find some answers!  You can use Catalytic Questioning as often as needed to get unstuck and develop deeper insights and better solutions.

As an executive coach, I've seen over and over again how the right question can unlock new thinking, energy and solutions.  This question storming process can help you do the same.

Straight Talk from Singular Stars

Working as a coach at a conference on "Mentors, Sponsors and Breaking the Glass Ceiling Through Our Allies," I met a lively group of smart trailblazers.  

  

Reginald Van Lee, EVP at Booz Allen Hamilton, was a memorable one.  Warm and witty in person, he accomplished what many struggle with once they reach the podium:  making his points in a concise, consumable way. 

  

He recommended that ground breaking leaders of all types cultivate their 

"4 Cs":

COURAGE:  to excel, to be different.

  

COMPETENCE:  you need to be exceptionally competent when you're trying to accomplish what few that look, act or think like you do.  Accept this and press on.

  

CONFIDENCE:  to attend excellent schools, vie for new roles, pursue powerful relationships.  Don't wait for permission - show up and lead.

  

COLLABORATION:  you can't do it alone - consciously create alliances.  Talk to someone new often.  Your network expands your value.

  

Paula Madison, CEO of the Los Angeles Sparks, was equally forthright and compelling.  Some of her comments echoed similar themes:

• Be bold.  "Courage and comfort are not in the same room." 
• Be an expert, and claim your accomplishments. "I'm proud to be a different kind of leader, a different kind of woman."
• Advocate for yourself.  No one will care more about your career than you do - you can't expect others to do more for you than you do for yourself. 
• Attend carefully to feedback.  Feedback tells you how you're showing up.

The audience was energized by these kinds of unvarnished, hard-earned perspectives. If you were to give your own "straight talk" on pointers for pioneering leaders, what would you include?

How to Resist Distractions and Temptation

Your phone buzzes as you pull onto the highway.  Are you more likely to think,

"I can't read texts while I'm driving." 

 or 

"I don't read texts while I'm driving."

Several interesting studies coming out of Boston College and the University of Houston revealed the impact of using "I can't" versus "I don't."  

In one study of 30 adults with health and fitness goals:

• 10 participants were not given a strategy.
• 10 were told to use "I can't" statements when they were tempted to slip (for example, "I can't skip work-outs.")
• 10 were told to use "I don't" statements when they were tempted to slip (for example, "I don't skip work-outs.") 

After 10 days

• In the group that wasn't given a strategy, three of the 10 were still working on their goals.
• In the "I can't" group, only one of the 10 was still working on her goal.
• In the "I don't" group, eight of the 10 participants were still working on their goals.

The study participants then received daily emails asking how well they were doing with their goals. 

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University explains:  

"I don't" is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It's an affirmation of your determination and willpower. "I can't" isn't a choice. It's a restriction, it's being imposed upon you. So thinking "I can't" undermines your sense of power and personal agency."

Want to resist distractions and temptation?  Working on an important goal?  Whenever you catch yourself veering off course, try reminding yourself that "I don't...."  It's a small strategy that can make a big difference.

Step It Up By Stepping Back

I have a great feeling about this particular team.  The demands of working for the second largest bank in the world can be relentless, but they leverage strengths like:  

-  working with very bright people

-  a palpable commitment to high quality work

-  deep technical expertise

-  and being extremely capable of delivering.

  

They also face challenges faced by many executive teams in large companies, like: 

-  sustaining a shared clarity about the big picture

-  culling myopic or reactive execution practices

-  navigating the growing size and complexity of their organization

-  and working smarter rather than harder.

So why am I so optimistic about their ability to excel? 

Because in the midst of yet another hard charging week, they exercised a discipline that helps Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and other business notables out-lead, out-innovate and out-sustain the competition.  They took time out to think together.  

As Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, wrote:  "...if you don't take the time to think proactively you will increasingly find yourself reacting to your environment rather than influencing it. The resulting situation will inevitably require far more time (and meetings) than thinking strategically would have to begin with."

Regularly carving out time to think is an essential but often elusive practice.  So how can you turn this good intention into a sustainable habit?  

Here are three approaches to consider:

Recognize the stigma of the alternative

"Uber-busy" used to infer "uber-important."  Increasingly, too busy is viewed as the new lazy.  Double parking appointments and running flat out through limitless days can make others question your commitment to high quality work.  As one 360 feedback source asked, "If he can't manage his schedule, how is he managing our function?"  

Curate your commitments

In other words, find ways to say no so that you can say yes.  What is it time for you to let go of, so that you have the bandwidth to do something better? Spending more of your day doing what only you can do increases the odds that you're utilizing your teams well. 

Design your time

Think about what doing your best work looks like.  Then find ways to link elements of the approach in this video to creating a habit of working that way:

Here's to You!

I get a kick out of being around people who are smart in different ways than I am - who have different kinds of interests and ambitions and impacts.  

It's invigorating to be around this capacity and learn from these mindsets and skills.

Which means that I'm very lucky - because as an executive coach I work daily with accomplished learners and leaders who like to work as hard as I do.  

They keep me constantly aware of how much more is possible.
  
Many times my work feels like a celebration:  of what my clients have learned and achieved and given to others - and how much more they will going forward.  

So this Quick Note will be my toast to them and to you:

Here's to the game changers

• the ones who persist in finding a better way
• and engaging others in making it happen.

Here's to the connectors

• who build networks that go up, down, sideways, and diagonally;
• who network to learn new perspectives and make new connections
• and who make sure that they give more than take along the way.

Here's to the long gamers

• who've learned that you can often get what you want - but maybe not quite in the way you thought you would;
• who know that if it's a worthwhile goal you persevere until you make it happen.
• Because living other people's goals doesn't work, but joining forces to meet a common goal does.

Here's to the listeners

• who understand how much more there is to really hear,
• who know how to draw out what others have to offer,
• and who make make time to listen for their own wisdom.

Here's to those that surprise themselves

• with what they realize they've accomplished;
• and then get curious, and then determined
• and ready to find out what they'll learn as they take on their next challenge.

Here's to you!

Negotiation: Turning Bad News Into Good

Picture this: "Time for my favorite thing in the world - negotiation!" crows Jack Donaghy.  30 Rock's Liz Lemon cringes.  And then a testosterone-infused skirmish produces an absurd outcome - as two combatants' need to win once again hijacks their common sense.

MJ Tocci, co-founder and executive director of the newly launched Heinz Negotiation Academy for Women, points out why this scene is both funny and familiar:  

"So many of us see negotiation as a competitive, conflict driven contest ... and the fear of losing can make negotiation daunting.  That brings bad news and good news.

The bad news is that negotiation is an essential skill for resolving conflict, building your brand, doing good work, managing deadlines, and  getting paid what you are worth.  

The good news is that there are many ways to get there.  I often ask my negotiation students to substitute the phrase 'creative problem solving' for 'negotiation' when they get stuck in their positions.  

Often what was competitive becomes more collaborative as you explore different options. Shouting or posturing is replaced by questioning and listening, assumptions are recognized and updated, and outcomes become more satisfying for all involved.  

Does this work all the time?  No, but it works more than you might think."  

The next time you are ready to ask for something you need or deserve, MJ recommends that you consider creative and strategic prompts like:

1. What's the outcome I want most?
2. Where am I if I don't ask for it ... and where am I if I do?
3. What are several different ways I could get what I want? 
4. What facts would make it clear that there is an advantage to both sides when we agree to pursue the outcome I am seeking?
5. What is the best timing for my request? 
6. Who can help me influence decision makers? 
7. What's my response to "no"?  

Your response to #7 is important - because in the world of negotiations, "no' is merely a position from which to negotiate again. 

Innovation Leadership, With A Twist

You've learned core practices that build strong leadership, like setting the stage for your team's success, concentrating on what matters most, and leading by example.

  

Innovation leaders have the same kinds of practices, but they use them with a twist.

Innovation leaders set the stage for their teams by 

• consistently exposing them to new ideas and experiences
• protecting time to think
• building networks that include many different points of view
• and creating other interesting intersections, because that's where creativity occurs.

Innovation leaders pay particular attention to

• finding and spotlighting good questions
• looking for something they hadn't picked up on before
• seeing ways to create new combinations
• and highlighting the potential within fledgling ideas.

Innovation leaders set a distinctive personal example, of

• commitment to and passion for their work
• active experimentation, and effective uses of failure
• combining, building and improving upon ideas
• and celebrating once again finding an even better way.

If you want to build a stronger culture of innovation, start by noticing which of these practices come most naturally to you and then find ways to do them more, better or in combination with something new. 

  

Many innovation leadership practices are already in your grasp, you just have to use them with a twist.

In-the-Moment Strategic Thinking

What's your first response in situations like  -  when an employee suggests a new, and somewhat risky, approach -  or a colleague is late with materials you need  -  or a customer requests a cut in rates? To stack the odds in your favor, don't respond to the situation.   Instead, think about the impact you want to create with your response,  and then choose your response. To paraphrase Peter Bregman, this means moving from the typical pattern of:        situation > response > outcome to:        situation > outcome > response. For example, when that employee suggests the new and risky approach (situation) if you want more of the status quo (outcome),  shoot the idea down (response). But if you want to encourage new and better ideas (outcome), have a PPCO conversation (response):             Plusses:  note what you like about the idea,             Potentials:  find ways to extend or build upon the idea,             Concerns:  only then - identify the drawbacks,             Opportunities:  and discuss ways they might be overcome. Responding to the outcome you want, rather than the situation itself, can help you amplify positive events and redirect less positive ones.        The more you practice a situation > outcome > response approach,  the more natural this in-the-moment strategic thinking will become, and the more time you'll spend on creating the outcomes that matter most.

Get a Grip on the Griping

Blamestorming can be seductive.  It's so pervasive that DIRECTV did a memorable spot on it.  It's just easier, not to mention self protective, to blame anyone but yourself for problems.  

Used judiciously, critical analysis reduces risks and improves ideas.  Used maliciously (for example, showing how smart you are by tearing down other's ideas) criticism saps energy, initiative and innovation. 

Whether it's a tolerated form of competitive positioning, a result of frustration, or simply a bad habit, the temptation to blame, vent and criticize is understandable.

And toxic.

So how to get a grip on the griping?

Here are three practices executives I've worked with have used productively: 

Refocus critical comments.  Diane Sawyer noticed that, "Criticism is just a really bad way of making a request.  So why not just make the request?"  Or, when someone else brings a criticism or complaint to you, shift the focus by asking what they want instead.

Check your intention.  Marshall Goldsmith recommends asking yourself three kinds of questions before voicing a complaint:  "Who will this comment help?  Is this comment the best way to help them?  Do I really believe what I'm about to say?"

Respect and practice the power of the positive. Shawn Achor researches positive outliers - people who are well above average.  He found that "...only 25 percent of job successes are predicted by I.Q. 75 percent of job successes are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat.... If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. In fact, what we've found is that every single business outcome improves."

"Change or Die"

Your doctor says, "Change your behavior, or you'll die sooner." 

What do you do?

If you're like 90% of patients with severe heart disease, you won't make the changes. 

Logic and facts aren't enough to inspire real change. Force and fear tactics aren't sufficient either.

If they were, 

• Surgeons' warnings would have eliminated smoking,
• The "three strikes rule" would stop repeat-offenders from committing crimes,
• And management and labor would readily collaborate to improve business outcomes.

Instead,

• The illnesses consuming most of our health care budgets are caused by poor smoking, drinking, eating, and exercise habits.  
• Our prisons are populated with career criminals.
• And employees and companies cling to unsuccessful business practices, even as revenues decline and plants close. 

Many of our long standing assumptions about how to create change are wrong. 

But some leaders are discovering what will work over the long term. 

    

In his concise, engaging book Change or Die, Alan Deutschman offers success stories like:

• The Dean Ornish program, where a three year follow-up showed that 77% of the patients had stuck with their lifestyle changes. 
• The Delancey Street Foundation, where 60% of their residents (including ex-felons, prostitutes, and substance abusers) transitioned into productive law-abiding citizens.
• And a union/management partnership between Toyota and NUMMI that revived a failed plant, producing better cars with fewer workers (and grievances).

What do these examples have in common?  Leaders who provided opportunities to

• Relate:  forming a relationship with a credible person or group who believes, and inspires hope that, the change will happen.
• Repeat:  guidance and support while you practice new skills and habits that create the change. 
• Reframe: highlighting experiences that help you find new ways to think about your situation. 

These "3 R" components frame effective change processes on both the personal and organizational level. 

Are they playing a strong enough role in your change effort?