Option Solving Blog

In a recent dialog with a large book retailer team leader, your editor was informed about a team member squabble he was dealing with. Apparently two team members had become embroiled in a heated discussion over something and everything just deteriorated from there. The two had worked together with each other for some considerable time.  The team leader was clearly seeking advice on how to resolve the situation. Instead your editor encouraged him to pursue an option solving exercise, so he would come up with his own solution – people are usually more inclined to act upon their own conclusions rather than take advice from others, anyway.

So your editor encouraged him to construct the following option solving question: “What could be my optimal option for resolving my team members’ squabble; considering these members 1) participated in a bitter fight, 2) operate in a hybrid mode, 3) could potentially become better team-mates by “norming” after “storming”, and 4) could have even greater regard for my team leadership through an optimal resolution?” Again, it’s appropriate to focus on just these four considerations to reduce complexity in its eventual decision, when that ultimate moment arrives – despite there being many other possible considerations out there.

Your editor then tutored him into producing the following fitting yin and yang “bookends,”as these help to keep people’s minds 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.   

His “bookends” turned out to be: “Let team fall apart” – Will not boost my leader stature;and “Pay them heavy extra bonus to ‘patch things up’” – Only paper over the cracks for short-term gain. You will note the italicized detractors associated with these least likely options, which shows why they are not a particularly good idea for consideration. Even so, these bookends will now hopefully nudge his intuitive thinking into high gear and focus to come-up with a range of realistic options – see ourLatest Worked Example.

From there, he now set-about coming up with at least five realistic options, which turned out to be six  – A thru F – that were then ready for some emotional distancing, Emotional distancing would allow him to take a couple of hours or more of quiet reflection, or even sleep on it, beforecoming to any final conclusion/decision. You can replace these proposed options with any new ones of your own.

While these six options looked especially interesting, he was particularly intrigued by – Option F: Meet with each team member to determine their preference to reconcile or leave team. He did pursue emotional distancing with your editor’s advice that, once he revisited his options, he should stick with whatever choice his intuitive mind arrived at. It would only likely work against him to second-guess himself once his initial decision had been made…no matter the challenges ahead.

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: “What is an individual’s best course of action against a service provider?”  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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