Option Solving Blog

Two weeks ago we saw some of the options that this intern had as his internship was coming to an end. After some emotional distancing, where his father allowed his son’s intuitive capabilities to reflect on the “pictogram” of six options available to him. He slept on them overnight and when he awoke, looked at his choices, and felt his best option was C) –Keep my fingers crossed for sales or mktg. position at company A.

Following our advice on “Peeling the Onion,” his father had his son figure out what his next step would be. To assist him, he decided to use the “Peeling the Onion” approach to look at his sub-options before moving ahead. With this in mind, he and his son set about creating a fresh question, which looked like this: “What is my best option is to pursue Option C and keep my fingers crossed for securing a sales or marketing position in company A; considering 1) short-on-time as internship finishes end of April, 2) believe my personality suits a sales/mktg. role, 3) I’m doing what I can to be respectful of senior managers intents, 4) and my current leader continues to be supportive of my career wishes?”

With this question in place, his son could now find appropriate yin and yang “bookends” as a framework for likely viable options. His peeling the onion bookends came out as “Leave to pursue a sales & mktg. position elsewhere” and “Accept what company A gives me” – the latter the same as before. See our Latest Worked Example to see why these two bookends, although both viable, were unlikely to stand. Even so, they were most useful as prompts for my friend’s son’s intuitive mind, when considering his final options.

He and his son subsequently produced six options, instead of the strongly recommended five as a minimum, so he was in good shape. You can see his six alternatives in our Latest Example: where one is: “Option D: Ask to spend a week with sales/mktg. team to convince them of my talent.”

Again, he encouraged his son to pursue some emotional distancing over a couple of hours and then revisit his new pictogram for a further decision point. So, which fresh option would you choose if you were in the son’s position?

As soon as a decision was made, my friend should encourage his son to put together an action initiative, while his decision issues are still fresh. Once that initiative is set, he should move forward without hesitation; despite any set backs or hesitations because his intuitive senses are more likely to be right than wrong.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the

COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: “What will be an executive’s best business option going forward?” Let’s have your COMMENTS or go to peter@ ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the blogger. Also consider buying the book: “Smart Decisions: Goodbye Problems, Hello Options” through amazon.com)

Filed under: Uncategorized |