Option Solving Blog

As this writer also gets involved in sharing insights on people’s communication preferences and talents, based upon a highly successful on-line survey, he found himself talking to a college student about his future career. The student’s communication profile turned up as DAIP, which indicated certain strength as a Diplomat (D) and much less focus on being a Producer (P). The latter “P” indicated that he had some difficulty maintaining focus and seeing things through, which would not be terribly helpful in so many deadline and pressure oriented careers. Other parts of the conversation about his life to-date tended to bear out these tendencies.

He was therefore advised to carefully consider his options by utilizing option solving and putting his mind to developing a question like: “What would be the best career track for me; considering 1) I’m working my way through college, 2) I’m a strategic thinker, 3) I’m challenged in high pressure situations, and 4) I’m not clear about my career desires?”  Note the four considerations he came up with, which were among several others, but this four seemed his mostly likely ones so as not to overly complicate his decision task.

With these in place, he then set-about producing two “bookends,” which would operate as his yin and yang extreme possibilities. Such bookends would then help focus his intuitive mind on the most plausible set of options, relative to his career ideas to date. Such bookends are vital for preventing people’s fertile intuitive minds from wandering and losing focus.

The bookends that emerged were: “Drift along and hope for the best” and “Ask college friends what I should do,” both of which seemed the least likely, but would challenge him to think through more realistic ones – see our Latest Worked Example.

Your writer challenged him to produce at least five realistic options, to stretch his thinking as much as possible. You will see where he, in fact, produced six realistic possibilities. It’s perfectly okay to produce more than 5 or 6 and six is what he came-up with. You can view his six in our Latest Example of which one was: “Option-E: Build venture to work at my own pace.”

Now that he had produced a “pictogram”, with its range of six options, he was encouraged to pursue some emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow him to draw upon his intuitive mind to sub-consciously review this range of options.

He was advised to sleep on it and when he awoke the next morning to quickly

review it and make his choice. His intuitive intelligence would guide him as to the best choice for him, in his circumstances. Once that became clear, with no second-guessing, he should then put together an action initiative to make headway, while things were still fresh in his mind. What option would you have chosen?

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “Pursuing your 2018 New Year Resolution?” 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)

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Our CEO from two weeks ago did return to his leadership team, introduced them to option solving and his pictogram, and then invited them to collaborate with him on a “Peeling the Onion” exercise. When they reached this point, they chose “Option D – Develop our leadership teams at every level” from the CEO’s pictogram.

So then their rational question became: “What is our optimum approach toward developing our leadership team – Option D – Develop our leadership teams at every level; considering 1) current readiness to lead, 2) current leadership talent, 3) potential leaders at lower levels, and 4) most cost effective approach??”  Although they came up with a range of considerations, they agreed upon this four so as not to overly complicate their decision task.

They then set-about producing two “bookends,” which would operate as their yin and yang extreme possibilities. Such bookends would then help focus their intuitive minds on the most realistic set of options for taking their company to another level. Such bookends are vital for preventing their fertile intuitive minds from wandering and losing focus.

It was interesting to see the bookends that emerged, which were: “Just allow natural leaders rise to the top” and “Clean house and bring in a fresh leader team,” both of which they considered were their company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example. Now their bookends would prompt a fresh range of options.

Their CEO then challenged them to come up with at least five realistic options, to stretch their thinking as much as possible. In fact their thoughts bubbled-up into six realistic possibilities. It’s perfectly okay to produce more than 5 or 6 and six is what they produced. You can view their six in our Latest Example of which one was: “Option F- Adopt 5 phase Enlightened Leadership approach.”

Once they had produced their fresh “pictogram”, with its range of six options, they were encouraged to pursue some emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow his team members to draw upon their intuitive minds to sub-consciously review their range of options.

The CEO allowed them a couple of hours of other activities before asking them to return for choosing their optimum option. By doing so he tapped into the powerful collective wisdom of the group. What option would you have chosen?

They did make a choice and then immediately set to work by producing an appropriate action initiative, while everything was still fresh in their minds. That way they could feed off of the mood of the moment rather than rebuild their thoughts at another time.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “What would be the best career track for me?” 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)

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Very recently your writer was watching a CEO contemplate how he could take his organization’s performance to another level. He had just recently been briefed on the possibilities of option solving, so saw the chance of flushing out a fresh option for mobilizing his organization to a new performance level. Hence he set to work.

And so his initial rational question turned out to be as follows: “What is our optimum requirement to increase our organization performance; considering 1) varying ages of staff, 2) cost of changes, 3) our marketplace, and 4) gaining the buy-in of our workforce?”  He thought through a range of considerations, but agreed upon this four so as not to make his task any more complex.

Now he set-about producing two “bookends,” which would operate as his yin and yang extreme possibilities. Such bookends would then help focus his intuitive mind on thinking about his company’s most realistic set of options to take his company to another level. These bookends are vital to prevent his fertile intuitive mind from wandering and losing focus.

Particular bookends that emerged were: “Make no changes” and “Completely change every process,” both of which he felt were his company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example. These would now prompt a fresh range of options.

He was therefore challenged to think about at least five realistic options, to stretch his thoughts about alternatives as much as possible. It subsequently bubbled-up into six realistic possibilities. It’s perfectly okay to produce more than 5 or 6 and six is what he produced. You can view his six in our Latest Example of which one was: “Option D – Develop our leadership teams at every level.”

With his “pictogram” now available, with its range of six options, he was in a position to pursue emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow this CEO to draw upon his intuitive mind to sub-consciously review his new range of options. At this point, he was also made aware of a “Peeling the Onion” possibility, so he could ferret out the best way forward. What choice would you have made as a “Peeling the Onion” possibility?

He was encouraged at this point to return to his company’s leadership team and tap into its collective wisdom, to determine his company’s the best option. We will see in a couple weeks their choice and how they will use “Peeling the Onion” to determine the best approach to their chosen option.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “Peeling the Onion: What is my organization’s best option for enhancing performance to another level?” 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)

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Sitting with a group of CEOs, the topic of readiness for expansion came up with your writer as he was introducing them to option solving; which now became the perfect decision tool to deal with this important subject. So without much further ado, we used it as a means for further educating them in the technique.

Their initial rational question fairly promptly came out as follows: “What is our optimum requirement prior to pursuing expansion; considering 1) our marketplace is growing, 2) our products/services are being well received, 3) it puts a strain on all our current resources, and 4) we need to clarify our people have the appetite for it?” They looked at a range of considerations, but they agreed upon these four so as not to make their task any more complex.

They were then ready to produce two “bookends,” which would again function as their yin and yang extreme possibilities. Such bookends would then focus their intuitive minds on thinking about their company’s most realistic set of sub-options. These bookends are vital to prevent their fertile intuitive minds from wandering in all sorts of directions and losing focus.

Bookends that were selected came out as: “Just let it happen” and “Bring in a Strong Financial Partner,” both of which the group felt were their company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example.

Now they were challenged to think about at least five realistic options, to stretch their likely alternatives as much as possible, which ultimately turned into six realistic possibilities. It is perfectly okay to produce more than 5 or 6 and six is what they did. You can view this six in our Latest Example of which one was: “Option F – Have a strong strategic understanding of our marketplace.”

Once their new “pictogram” was available, with its range of six options, they were now exposed to a stint of emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow these CEOs’ intuitive minds to sub-consciously review their span of options. After a break participants reconvened and quickly arrived at a couple of conclusions, which could then be distilled to one after some group deliberation. What choice would you have made?

With their joint conclusions, they were now encouraged to return to their own leadership teams and introduce them to the exercise, as a means of getting their buy-in and educating them on the Option Solving technique. By doing so, they would enable their people to have an alternative, and potentially more powerful, means of making key leadership and business decisions. Once they made their choice from their ‘pictogram,’ they should immediately draft an action initiative, while all the issues are fresh in their minds.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “What is my organization’s best option for enhancing performance?” 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)

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Sitting with a group of CEOs, the topic of readiness for expansion came up with your writer as he was introducing them to option solving; which now became the perfect decision tool to deal with this important subject. So without much further ado, we used it as a means for further educating them in the technique.

Their initial rational question fairly promptly came out as follows: “What is our optimum requirement prior to pursuing expansion; considering 1) our marketplace is growing, 2) our products/services are being well received, 3) it puts a strain on all our current resources, and 4) we need to clarify our people have the appetite for it?” They looked at a range of considerations, but they agreed upon these four so as not to make their task any more complex.

They were then ready to produce two “bookends,” which would again function as their yin and yang extreme possibilities. Such bookends would then focus their intuitive minds on thinking about their company’s most realistic set of sub-options. These bookends are vital to prevent their fertile intuitive minds from wandering in all sorts of directions and losing focus.

Bookends that were selected came out as: “Just let it happen” and “Bring in a Strong Financial Partner,” both of which the group felt were their company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example.

Now they were challenged to think about at least five realistic options, to stretch their likely alternatives as much as possible, which ultimately turned into six realistic possibilities. It is perfectly okay to produce more than 5 or 6 and six is what they did. You can view this six in our Latest Example of which one was: “Option F – Have a strong strategic understanding of our marketplace.”

Once their new “pictogram” was available, with its range of six options, they were now exposed to a stint of emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow these CEOs’ intuitive minds to sub-consciously review their span of options. After a break participants reconvened and quickly arrived at a couple of conclusions, which could then be distilled to one after some group deliberation. What choice would you have made?

With their joint conclusions, they were now encouraged to return to their own leadership teams and introduce them to the exercise, as a means of getting their buy-in and educating them on the Option Solving technique. By doing so, they would enable their people to have an alternative, and potentially more powerful, means of making key leadership and business decisions. Once they made their choice from their ‘pictogram,’ they should immediately draft an action initiative, while all the issues are fresh in their minds.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “What is my organization’s best option for enhancing performance?” 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)

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Our most recent posting focused on the above question and then the executive group agreed to pursue Option B – ‘To hire more people and build strong teams.’   However they felt Peeling the Onion would be appropriate way to gain more insight into the precise nature of doing that. Being now fully conversant with option solving, they could proceed to use the technique to uncover this sub-set of likely options.

The rational question they chose for this subsequent exercise came through as: “What would be our best alternative today to hire more people and build strong teams with earlier Option B; considering 1) hiring budgets, 2) current hiring approach, 3) mix-and-match for optimal teams, and 4) effective communication to hold teams together?” Again they reviewed a range of considerations, but they agreed to go with these four listed so as not to make their task more complex.

The participants were then ready to produce two more “bookends,” which would again function as their yin and yang extreme possibilities. Those bookends would then focus their intuitive minds on creating the company’s most appropriate set of sub-options. These bookends are vital to prevent their fertile intuitive minds from wandering in all sorts of directions and losing focus.

Bookends that were selected came out as: “Use outside contractor” and “Adopt computerized system for hiring and team building,” both of which the group felt were its company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example.

Again, they had to produce at least five realistic options to stretch their likely alternatives as much as possible. It is perfectly okay to produce more and that is what they did, although, in this case, they left the sixth possibility open in case they came up with another sub-option overnight.  These five can be viewed in our Latest Example of which one was: “Option D – Learn more about team building and then apply.”

Once this new “pictogram” was available, with its range of five-six options, their leader requested that they engage in a further stint of emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow the members’ intuitive minds to sub-consciously review their span of options. Members chose to meet the following morning with a possible additional option and then make their choice.  What choice would you have made?

We can assure you that this was done and so they had another tier of their strategy for getting their people component to perform better. Again, they could decide to pursue a further tier of peeling the onion or go ahead and devise an appropriate action initiative,

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “What is our optimum requirement before pursuing expansion?” 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)

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A group of executives were contemplating how they could best improve people performance within their organization.  Since they had just become acquainted with the option solving technique, they decided to make full use of it.

Their first step was to create a sharp rational question, which would really stimulate their thoughts on the topic. This question turned out to be: “What would be the most valuable approach our organization could take today to increase its people performance effectiveness; considering 1) money/compensation, 2) leadership team, 3) core values, and 4) personal life constraints?” Other considerations were discussed, but they preferred to go with the four listed so that their decision didn’t become overly complicated.

The group then set about producing two “bookends,” which would function as its yin and yang extreme possibilities. Those bookends would then focus the participants’ intuitive minds on creating their company’s most realistic set of options. Such bookends are vital to prevent their fertile intuitive minds from wandering over all sorts of possibilities and setting more extreme limits.

Bookends that were selected turned out to be: “Micro-manage” and “Hands-off, no support,” both of which the group felt were their company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example.

Now they had the challenge to produce at least five realistic options to stretch their likely alternatives to the greatest degree. It is perfectly okay to produce more and that is what they did – six in fact.  You can view these executives’ possibilities from our Latest Example and one of those proposed was: “Option B – Hire more people and build strong teams.”

Once the group’s “pictogram” was in place, with its range of six options, its leader requested that they engage in some emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow the members’ intuitive minds to sub-consciously review their span of options. Members chose to have a decent break to allow this to occur.

When they returned to their covered-up “pictogram,” the group’s leader displayed it once more to allow members to study it for a few moments as a refresher, and then make their intuitive choice. The leader asked them to hand in their confidential choices, to encourage an objective view, and then indicated those choices on their pictogram accordingly.  What choice would you have made?

Once the group’s choice was made, members had a discussion about whether to opt for the immediate creation of an associated action-initiative, while the associated issues were still fresh in their minds. OR to pursue “Peeling the Onion” as a way of uncovering the optimum approach to their choice. They chose the latter, which we will follow-through in two-weeks time to see their various sub-alternatives.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “Peel the Onion: What lies behind the most valuable option our organization could pursue today to increase its people performance effectiveness?” 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)

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An executive who was quite familiar with option solving was contemplating how he could increase his company’s performance effectiveness, so sat down with his key team to draw upon their wisdom in the situation. He set aside at least a couple of hours to do this to allow time for thought and discussion.

His first step was to get them to come up with a sharp rational question, which would really get them thinking. This question turned out to be: “What would be the most valuable approach our Internet marketing organization could take today to increase its performance effectiveness; considering 1) Only have one salesperson, 2) Want to move away from websites, 3) 80% of business comes from 20% of clients, and 4) Have 5 month cushion of strong revenue?” There were several other considerations discussed, but they were happy to go with the four listed so that their decision didn’t become too complicated.

He now encouraged his team to produce two “bookends,” which would function as their yin and yang extreme possibilities. These bookends would then focus their intuitive minds on creating their company’s most realistic set of options. Without these bookends their fertile intuitive minds would tend to wander over all sorts of possibilities.

The bookends they selected were: “Keep doing the same thing” and “Sell the company,” both of which they felt were their company’s least likely options – see our Latest Worked Example.

Next was their challenge to produce at least five realistic options to stretch their alternatives to the greatest degree. It is perfectly okay to produce more, which is what they did – six in fact.  You can view their possibilities from our Latest Example and one of those proposed was: “Option A – Generate more leads and get the sales person to step up.”

Once their “pictogram” was in place, with their range of six options, their leader requested that they engage in some emotional distancing. Emotional distancing would allow their intuitive minds to sub-consciously review their span of options. So he gave them a break for 30 minutes to focus on other leadership matters and setting their pictogram aside to allow their intuitive minds to subconsciously consider the six possibilities.

When they returned to their covered-up “pictogram,” the leader displayed it once more, they studied it for a few moments as a refresher, and then made their intuitive choice. Which one would you have chosen? He asked them to hand in their confidential choices, to avoid a herd-view, and then indicated those choices on their pictogram accordingly.  What choice would you have made?

Once their choice was evident, they immediately set about producing an action initiative associated with it, while the associated issues were still fresh in their minds. They also didn’t second-guess themselves, which would be most unwise.

If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.  Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting will be in two week’s time: “What would be the most valuable approach our organization could take today to increase its people performance effectiveness?” 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)

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