Option Solving Blog

Over dinner the other evening with a friend, your editor discovered that he was contemplating how to encourage continued business activities with a long established client. After some initial exchanges about his friend’s different alternatives, it seemed appropriate to introduce him to option solving as a way of resolving his dilemma.

This ultimately led his friend into posing the following question: “What is the optimum option for friend to secure a specific client’s continued business; considering 1)  they have enjoyed long relationship, 2) some key personalities have changed, 3) he prefers to orchestrate more from a distance, and 4) there are many constructive initiatives to pursue?” Again, it’s appropriate for the friend to focus on just these four considerations to reduce complexity in his eventual decision, when that ultimate moment arrives – despite there being many other possible considerations out there.

His friend now had to figure-out possible yin and yang “bookends,”as these will help keep his intuitive mind focused against other immediate mental distractions. Bookends such as these are vital for preventing our fertile intuitive minds from wandering and losing concentration. We are mostly unaware of how powerfully valuable but foot-loose our intuition can be unless we can keep it properly focused on such occasions.   

The bookends he decided to consider are: “Play it by ear” – Could lose out to others;and “Offer a pro-bono package of activities” – Could undermine his credibility. You will note the italicized detractors associated with these least likely options, which show why they are not really for consideration. Even so, these bookends now nudged his intuitive thinking into high gear again and to consider a range of realistic options – see ourLatest Worked Example.

His friend then posed six realistic sub-options – A thru F – and was then ready to pursue emotional distancing once more beforecoming to any outcome decision. He can then review these declared options, perhaps after 2 hours, later in the day, or first thing the following morning, before arriving at an optimal conclusion. You can replace his proposed options with any new ones of your own.

While all these options look interesting, he was especially intrigued by – Option F: Suggest client invite key leader on team to become in-house facilitator resource. He subsequently decided to sleep on it and seek input from others until the following morning and then proceed accordingly. He’s strongly advised to stick with whatever option his overall, intuitive choice turns out to be.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area or contact him at peter@ileadershipsolutions.com .  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Our next posting will be in two week’s time: “Peel the Onion: What is best option for securing a specific client’s continued business?”  Let’s have your COMMENTS or go to peter@ileadershipsolutions.com . Allow time to connect with the blogger. Also consider buying the book: “Smart Decisions: Goodbye Problems, Hello Options” through amazon.com)

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