Option Solving Blog

Recruiting the right people is never easy, especially if you’ve been challenged with the task many times because – the more you do it, the more challenging you realize it is and the more luck you know you will need. In this instance, I am thinking about a recent option solving exercise with a successful professional, who is thinking about starting a non-profit. He has secured the necessary legal requirements, so his breakthrough challenge was how to recruit the necessary celebrities he would need to get his long dreamed about project off the ground.

We spent a good deal of time formulating the question. In fact, to get our intuitive juices flowing, which would assist us with the necessary creativity, we started out listing down some of the issues associated with his celebrity recruiting challenge (see the “Smart Decisions” book): such as,  picking people who have access to celebrities, the time factor involved,  who has spheres of influence, and so on. With these in mind, he was able to begin putting together an appropriate question, like “What is my best alternative in gaining access to celebrities, through picking people with the right spheres of influence (who have access to celebrities), so that I can recruit the right celebrities in the shortest possible time?”

Once the question was established, he was challenged to come up with the two bookends: potential options but were quite untenable to him; like, at one end, “Happenstance contact” or at the other end, “Secure Oprah Winfrey to help.”

With these in place, his intuitive mind was provoked into high gear because of the question and the bookends challenged him to think of options that were more realistic. He came up with seven viable options, as opposed to the two or three we typically dredge up, when faced with a similar situation. And then he chose what he thought will his optimum option one after some “emotional distancing” (see the book). Believe you me; with the choice that he picked, he is likely to be way more successful in recruiting his desired celebrities. Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Getting meetings without alienating people, through Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS to connect with the author. )

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Recruiting Celebrities, Recruiting People |