Option Solving Blog

Currently, we are grappling with the dilemma of how to take care of our very sick Aunt who lives 1500 miles away. We have been visiting with her on a highly regular basis to deal with doctor and hospital visits, but now her illness has reached a more advanced stage. We’ve discussed her wishes with her, as well as her options, but have not been able to come up with an optimal solution…hence our inclination to use Option Solving to find an optimal solution.

If you go to our Latest Example, you will see the question that we devised through our rational capabilities, along with the most appropriate considerations. That question was: “What is our best option for taking care of our sick relative; considering she lives a long way away, there is no immediate family living nearby, she has a 5 day-6 hour care worker now (Norma), there is a live-in housekeeper (Carmen), and Aunt does not wish to relocate to a cooler climate?” Other considerations were taken into account, although the ones used here were roughly 50% of the list.

With this in place, we set about pinpointing two “bookends” to frame option boundaries. These least likely bookends are there to set some limits, as well as spur our creative, intuitive minds to come up with the most likely range of options. After due deliberation, we unearthed: “Leave her to fend for herself,” at one end, with, “Put into hospice facility care” at the other. Their unacceptability is spelled out in our Latest Example.

It is important to come up with at least five examples in order to stretch the possibilities as much as we could. In fact, one of them proved to be: “24/7 nursing assistance at home –including VITAS hospice care “… Option D. Take a look at the other four options.

We then put our pictogram aside for around an hour for some emotional distancing and then returned to it after focusing on some other family activities. During that time our intuitive minds were diligently sorting through all our previous experiences to determine which option would best suit the Aunt’s situation. So when we did return to it, we quickly reacquainted ourselves with the options picture and made our intuitive choice. What would be your choice in the circumstances?

Once we made our choice, we immediately figured out an appropriate action initiative to make the most of the situation.. If you have an issue example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.
Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: “Getting my tech team on-board?” We’re always interested in your COMMENTS or go to peter@ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the blogger.)

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The two most senior executives within a client company found themselves talking about wanting a senior executive colleague (Jack) to leave the company in the most seamless way possible. They had worked together for a number of years, but the relationship had become more fractious by the day in recent times. There was clearly limited respect among the two sides anymore, with Jack on one side and his two senior colleagues on the other.

A recent blow up between the two sides within the past few days had set the stage for the twosome to seriously consider Jack’s departure. They almost couldn’t stand each other anymore. So came the opportunity to show them the value of Option Solving.

Once they became familiar with the option solving technique, the twosome were encouraged to engage their rational minds for setting an appropriate question to commence the OS activity. With due facilitation, this turned out to be: “What is our best option for negotiating an exit strategy with Jack; considering it may not be easy for him to swallow, our business may flourish better if we go our separate ways, it could take a strain off our leadership team, need to keep discussions quiet until the right time, and risks of discussions becoming fraught and going nowhere?” Several other considerations were discussed, although these proved to be the most pertinent ones.

Now they had to convert this question into options. They started with pinpointing two “bookends” for setting option boundaries. These bookends, because they are really not viable, will spur the creative, intuitive minds of the twosome to find their most plausible options. After some due discussion they produced: “Had enough. Ask Jack to leave tomorrow ,” at one end, with, “Continue current struggle in the hope it will work out – status quo” at the other. You can see why neither were acceptable in our Latest Example.

The stage was now set to develop at least five. In fact, one of these proved to be: “Develop joint principles for Jack’s departure and formulate into a legal business agreement”… Option C. Their other four options are available for your thoughts.

Our twosome were then encouraged to sleep on this Option Solving pictogram overnight as a form of emotional distancing. A natural break like this would create the opportunity for their intuitive minds to draw upon their many life experiences for comparable situations and then produce an optimal choice when the time came. This would happen immediately they woke up, since their choice would be ready and waiting.

Once they made their choice, they were to formulate an action initiative, while their choice was top-of-the- mind. A good time to figure out what next steps to take. If you have an issue example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.
Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: “Best way to take care of our elderly, sick relative?” We’re always interested in your COMMENTS or go to peter@ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the blogger.)

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