Option Solving Blog

Solving My Office Dilemma: using Option Solving

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

This blog is about Option Solving and how it has so many applications.

Just recently we were having dinner with some close friends. The wife, a psychotherapist, was facing the renewal of her office lease. While there were some other contextual factors that were driving her dilemma, she was struggling with her approach because she had not been the primary lessee to date, very much liked her office (which she had already occupied for several years), and was hoping to keep it for another 5-7 years.

At some point, as our friend described situation, my wife suggested that I introduce this friend to option solving. With a quick overview, I then worked toward what her question would be; based upon her circumstances and considerations (see the Latest Example).

Once we succeeded with the question, then we explored her “bookends”: those more extreme options which were least likely to be considered…but they were options nevertheless. Based on her current level of frustration, one option was “Tell them to ‘Go to Hell’” and the other was “Accept whatever terms are offered” – see Latest Example.

With her intuitive senses pushing these to one side, now she was ready to create fresh potential options. Two of which, in the Latest Example, were “Low ball the landlord, in view of it being a renters market” and “Find others to jointly lease the space.” Once all her five options became clear, I then advised her to sleep on it (use some emotional distancing, which she thought was a great idea), when her most favorable option would surface once she woke the following morning … her intuitive mind will push aside the clutter and haziness and prompt her to make an optimum decision. Suddenly, toward the end of dinner, a whole look of peace crossed her face, which happens to so many other options solvers at this point. As of writing this blog, she was making good progress along her chosen path.

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: “Sometimes the initial question is not the right question.” Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author.)

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Better Career Choices for Beginners and Job Seekers: using Option Solving

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

This blog is about Option Solving and Option Solving is a much better way for career beginners and job seekers to make their career choices, than so many other traditional modes. In a moment you will see why.

College graduates and those already in careers have picked up a tremendous amount of intuitive wisdom in their lives to date –from friends, family, schooling, college, early work experiences, and so on. Intuitive wisdom provides an incredible bank of information to draw upon when the time comes for choosing careers. The trick is to access that bank of information in the most effective way: how do I access that mind boggling level of intuitive wisdom I’ve gained over the years, especially when it’s locked away? That’s where Option Solving comes in.

For many job seekers in the current economic scenario, this is a great time to look at your deep-seated job desires rather than go back to what you’ve been doing. There are new positions and roles emerging as the economy changes that might gel better with your own intuitive desires.

The first step is to come up with an appropriate question. Perhaps one like: “What’s the best career choice for me now?” You can learn more how to pose the right questions from the option solving book.

Your next step with Option Solving is to set your mind toward an additional framing technique known as “bookends” (find out more about these from the book). But two likely bookends could be: 1) Do nothing and just hope the right job comes along. 2) Follow the career path decided by my family and friends. The idea behind bookends is to choose extremes you’re least likely to follow: hence the ones stated above.

With these extremes your incredible intuitive wisdom will kick in, as it will naturally tend to reject these bookends. Then you should map out 5-8 alternative choices of career that appeal to you in some way – see example under Latest Example tab.

Once you have laid these out go to bed and sleep on them – as a career beginner that will probably mean from 2.00AM to 2.00PM the following afternoon! For more mainstream careerists, it will mean first thing in the morning. However, before you close your eyes, you ask yourself exactly the same question as you posed earlier: “What is the best career choice for me now?”

The first choice (of all the alternatives) that pops into your head when you wake up is the career choice you should pursue. This sleep break is known as “emotional distancing” (more in the book) and allows your intuitive intelligence to work at its best (it does all the editing and removes all the fluff).

Once decided, don’t be put off by your family and friends. No matter the challenges or obstacles, this is the career of your dreams and should be pursued at all costs. Remember, “He/She who lets go is the one who loses out.” Best of luck with your chosen career!

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Dealing with an office rental dilemma. Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author.)

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Fostering an Effective Relationship with my Boss, through Option Solving

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

Not so long ago I was discussing the working relationship between a senior executive and his CEO boss. They had only been working a matter of months together and now the realities of their partnership and differences in style were coming more to light. The senior executive realized he was going to have to make some adjustments, in order for the relationship to develop in a positive way.

When I enquired about some of the considerations related to this important matter, he came up with such points as: Need to effect necessary company changes; keep the company growing; retain his CEO’s confidence. From these primary thoughts, the senior executive was able to pose an effective question to begin framing his intuitive thoughts. This ended up as, “What is my best option for fostering a good working relationship with my CEO, considering the need to effect necessary company changes, keep the company growing, and retain his confidence?

From this he was able to create some useful “bookends” (see latest example). Bookends are important in option solving, since, not only do they considerably help frame the issues for the intuitive mind to work at its best, but they spur our intuitive mind to be at its most creative (depending on the quality of the bookends of course).

He was now positioned to come up with some good alternative options, such as: Move some things forward on my own (check in afterward): Postpone responses to him (wherever possible) for 12-24hrs and re-engage with more empathetic responses: more in latest example. Once he decided his most favorable option, he moved ahead. Now things seem to be in better working order with the need to build upon that over time.

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Owing to the time of year, it is a good time to review career choices through Option Solving again; especially for students. Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author.)

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Communicating with a Unified Corporate Image, Through Option Solving

Posted on June 12, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

Recently I was working with a group of executives who were struggling with the issue of developing a unified corporate image. When I suggested some time to consider all their options, they were intrigued. Their level of intrigue went up even higher when I suggested a more comprehensive framework for such an exercise: rather than pursue it in an adhoc manner.

When I asked them about some of the issues related to this important topic, they came up with ideas such as: Emotional attachment to existing image; multiple documents with multiple authors; having local identity/brand recognition; …until they had listed nine in all. By polling them individually (important in option solving), they highlighted the four most important. These included the “local identity/brand recognition” item but also: Fear of passing judgment on others; Relaunch of the corporate name; and Consistency of message. From these they were able to frame the right question (see latest example). You will also see the unlikely option “bookends” they chose, as well as one or two of their more viable options.

The most important realization they came to was; when they were allowed to utilize their intuitive intelligence (as encouraged by the exercise of Option Solving) the best solution emerged relatively easily. Why was this? Now we know it’s because our intuitive intelligence is very powerful: collectively it’s even more so. Given the right environment, it can be especially creative and consequently reveal possibilities not normally considered. And so their collective solution came forth without too much difficulty. Even more encouraging, was the fact that everyone more or less bought into it because they were consulted and involved in the decision. These are some of the true benefits of Option Solving.

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Best way to get along with my boss, through Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author.)

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Taking a Better Approach to Quality through Option Solving

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

Not so long ago I was working with an important Regional group on its quality concerns. Although quality is an important item to many organizations: due the nature of this regional organization’s activities, quality was critical; almost a life threatening issue. It had just recently received a less than stellar review from a governmental agency, so was compelled to put things right.

It put together a cross section of about 13-14 people, including senior executives to ground-floor people, to consider this issue. It was important to have a good sprinkling of ground-floor people so that whatever course was taken, it would not be perceived as a purely executive mandate. Once together and once they understood the Option Solving concept, the group set about forming the right question: this was helped by taking into account certain considerations. These can be seen in the Latest Example (see blog tab) with a question such as: “What is our best approach to define (in a compelling/ inspirational way) and enable quality, to take XYZ Organization to the next level; considering the building of the right “top of the mind” culture, best practices, moving beyond compliance, becoming a “no-blame” enterprise, and using resources more effectively?”

Once this question was established, the group produced two bookends, one of which was, “Stay the way we are.” For the other you can see in the Latest Example. With these in place, the group parlayed the enormous capacity of the human mind to build other options/alternatives. They then proceeded to develop seven alternatives, one of which was (B) Recruit the Right Leader of Quality to Orchestrate to most Appropriate Strategy. There ultimate choice will be left unsaid because only the people who participated can appreciate the significant value of the choice they made: again see Latest Example and the Book. This is another way of seeing how Option Solving can be applied so well to any issue, personal or professional, owing to the power of the technique and the intuitive mind.

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 3 weeks (after vacation): Best way to Communicate a Unified Image, through Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author.)

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Attracting the Right People to Seminars through Option Solving

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

The other week I was talking to a small group of people about their efforts to promote their particular organization through a series of talks. They operate in a big city where there is always plenty of competition for audiences who wish to listen to speakers on a whole range of topics. They had targeted a particular audience of family owned business leaders: where owners could listen to and meet interesting speakers on a range of topics particularly germane to their issues and needs.

As we talked about their challenge of attracting such an audience, they talked about their frustration of finding too many brokers, consultants, bankers and others turning up rather than the owners of family businesses. So we began to formulate a question: “What is our best alternative to attract owners to seminars…” but stopped there to consider some of the issues associated with such a need. We listed eight in all, with the top four being listed in the latest example question (see Latest Example).

With the question in hand, we then considered the most pertinent “bookends,” in order to get our combined intuitive insights into top gear for the different possible options. Those ranged from: Give everyone $1000 to attend, and at the other end, Charge People $1000 to attend. Being somewhat outlandish with bookends has the intent to stimulate the intuitive mind to switch into high gear. When you look at some of the question considerations, the latter is not such an outlandish thought. But now the real options really started to flow, which ended up with six different viable possibilities: three of which are shown in the Latest Example.

With an Option Solving topic like this, coupled with the right, fairly large group of people to look at all the alternatives, then even more interesting options could emerge. Having sufficient people in the room, would bring out the real “wisdom of the crowd” to come up with an optimal, creative solution.

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Taking a better approach to Quality, through Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author.)

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Getting Sales Meetings without Alienating Prospects through Option Solving

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

During these recessionary times securing sales meetings is tougher than usual. Even after a salesperson gets the ball rolling, building relationships through subsequent meetings can be equally challenging as prospects have to make difficult decisions about whether they can afford to proceed. This is where skill and finesse is required by the salesperson.

It is more than likely salespeople will look to their sales leaders for advice and coaching on how to handle the situation. Talented sales leaders will not be drawn into just giving their “charges” the answer; they will challenge their team members to come up with their own answer. This way their salespeople will more likely act on their choice, as well as discover their best option: which they won’t then forget in a hurry.

So, firstly, sales leaders, following the Option Solving technique, will work with their salespeople to come up with the right question: see the Latest Example. Once this is has been hashed out, then sales leaders can encourage their sales team members to come up with bookends: the least likely options like – “Forget the idea” or at the other end “Camp outside his/her door:” find out more in the book.

Such extreme options help to stimulate the intuitive intelligence to come up with its best alternatives. In this example, we have: “Leave alone for a month,” options B-E, and “Approach an ‘outside’ Janice friend and ask for 3^rd party advice.” We deliberately left the other options open, since there is no one set of alternatives. Once the range of reasonable options is in place, then sales leaders will encourage their salespeople to pick the best alternative option. This is the one that their sales people should now pursue with all due skill.

Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Attracting the right people to seminars, through Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the author. )

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Recruiting Celebrities through Option Solving

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

Recruiting the right people is never easy, especially if you’ve been challenged with the task many times because – the more you do it, the more challenging you realize it is and the more luck you know you will need. In this instance, I am thinking about a recent option solving exercise with a successful professional, who is thinking about starting a non-profit. He has secured the necessary legal requirements, so his breakthrough challenge was how to recruit the necessary celebrities he would need to get his long dreamed about project off the ground.

We spent a good deal of time formulating the question. In fact, to get our intuitive juices flowing, which would assist us with the necessary creativity, we started out listing down some of the issues associated with his celebrity recruiting challenge (see the “Smart Decisions” book): such as, picking people who have access to celebrities, the time factor involved, who has spheres of influence, and so on. With these in mind, he was able to begin putting together an appropriate question, like “What is my best alternative in gaining access to celebrities, through picking people with the right spheres of influence (who have access to celebrities), so that I can recruit the right celebrities in the shortest possible time?”

Once the question was established, he was challenged to come up with the two bookends: potential options but were quite untenable to him; like, at one end, “Happenstance contact” or at the other end, “Secure Oprah Winfrey to help.”

With these in place, his intuitive mind was provoked into high gear because of the question and the bookends challenged him to think of options that were more realistic. He came up with seven viable options, as opposed to the two or three we typically dredge up, when faced with a similar situation. And then he chose what he thought will his optimum option one after some “emotional distancing” (see the book). Believe you me; with the choice that he picked, he is likely to be way more successful in recruiting his desired celebrities. Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: Getting meetings without alienating people, through Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS to connect with the author. )

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Giving Advice through Option Solving

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

We’re all asked for advice from time to time and the question is, “Will the other party listen and take your advice on board?” This is where option solving can come in very handy.

Instead of providing advice, ask the advice seeker, “What do you see are your options in this instance?” By asking them a question in reply, you’ve automatically got them into a listening mode. More often than not, the person will start sharing one or two of their immediate options but you will quickly notice he/she is frustrated with those answers, which is why he/she has come to you.

Your challenge, other than in an emergency, is not to give advice seekers advice off the bat. There is a big chance your offering will not gel with them anyway, even if it’s very sound, because deep down people prefer to act on their own advice not upon the advice of others. They have to experience an emotional buy-in to any advice and they are more likely to do that when they have discovered it for themselves.

So, once you have them sharing their initial options with you, then ask the question, “What is it you are trying to accomplish with this issue?” This is going to encourage them to reach into their intuitive intelligence and imagine what they are really looking to resolve. Help them formulate an appropriate question (learn about this in the book).

Then get them to spell out their least likely options (what the book calls “bookends”). Once these are in place, which will move their intuitive mind into high gear, then ask them, “What are your most likely options?” Now they will start looking at wider possibilities, including the one or two that they offered at the outset.

When they have exhausted their ideas, this is when you can insert the idea/piece of advice that you would have liked to have given them in the first place. Now they will really listen and most likely buy into your suggestion. And now they are ready to choose their best option, especially when you ask them, “Now intuitively pick the best option for you?” No analysis. No agonizing. Just choose the one that makes the most intuitive sense.

Hey presto! They suddenly find they’ve arrived at their best possible choice. They have also emotionally bought into it. They will be so grateful to you for listening and helping them along the right track. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: solving a recruitment issue with Option Solving. Make your COMMENTS to connect with the author.

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Developing New Revenue Streams using Option Solving

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Peter Arthur-Smith

Let’s think of any well established business that’s trying to build new revenue streams. It brings to mind a successful company that already has two well established and profitable legs to its business and believes it should have a third one. One of its senior executives is assigned to initiate the issue, so he pulls out his copy of “Smart Decisions” (see Order Book) and gets to work.

His first task is to pull together an appropriate group of people from across the company and then put the issue of finding a third revenue stream before them. It took them a good 40 minutes to hash out the appropriate question (see Latest Example): the book also has some useful tips on how to approach establishing the right question.

With this in place the group of eight participants brainstormed about appropriate “bookends” to tease their intuitive minds into becoming as creative as possible. Because, with bookends like: “Just stick with existing core business” and at the other end “Commit to very aggressive expansion” (see Latest Example): there was no way either would fly with their CEO.

Now they had a good framework to come up with the most compelling alternatives from which they could independently and confidentially make their choice (see Latest Example). You will see they came up with six alternatives, although we won’t see them all so you won’t be tempted to second guess their choices. (NOTE: They are in the best position to understand their particular circumstances and their specific alternatives. We just need a flavor of their thinking, so that any of us can take a fresh perspective with our own situation.)

Once they had come up with their own Option Solving scenario, they were then in a position to share it with their CEO and their other colleagues. It certainly created a lot of debate in the company and eventually an approach was decided upon. The whole technique got most people’s attention and a good degree of input. This company is now ready to move ahead and pursue its next distinctive revenue stream.(Next posting in 2 weeks: Revisiting Giving Advice through Option Solving…Please also make COMMENTS for connecting with the author.)

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Developing New Revenue Streams | Leave a comment »

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