At the end of a multi-day workshop on ‘complexity and organization design for executive teams,’ a participant looked at my notebook, looked at me, looked back at my notebook, and asked,
“How am I supposed to make sense of all this?”
I responded, “Great question. Are you OK using the SOLVED coaching process we spoke about on day 2? Part of sense-making is removing me, the perceived expert, from your work and placing you, the expert, at the periphery of your work.” They said yes.
They randomly chose 6 SOLVED cards and 1 Oblique Strategies. Sharing in the hope that the questions and approach may help you make sense of your challenge.
SOLVED questions
- What are you doing when you accomplish what you want to have happen?
- You have solved this; who is the first person you share the results with? What do you tell them?
- On a scale of 0 – 10, how will you know you are at a 9?
- What have you already accomplished?
- Describe something that’s already successful.
- Knowing yourself as the expert, what direction is best to take?
Oblique strategy
- Take a break
They smiled and leaned forward in their chair as we worked through the questions. Once they turned over the “Take a break” card, a smile appeared. They turned to me and said, “Interesting; it was like the idea was in my head, and I needed some noodling to see it.”
It’s great when that happens.