Gary was Vice President in charge of his company's
marketing division. He worked for an enormous
multi-national corporation that spent millions on marketing
to other corporations. He had his Business Development
style down pat. Big meals, in fancy restaurants, on the
company tab.
Then he joined a much 'smaller' organization - only $400
million a year in sales but growing steadily. And his
expense account was ... let's call it "reined in." He was
told to put his time into building relationships by phone
and in meetings, with an occasional meal in a 'normal'
restaurant.
Have you ever had the experience of being absolutely
positively completely certain about something? Your idea,
your opinion, your experience - all telling you that you
'know'?
I mean so certain that no matter what other information was
offered to you, you couldn't conceive of any other
perspective or position on the matter?
Well Gary went ballistic. He knew, for a fact, that "You
can't do business development that way!"
He spent then next three years constantly at odds with the
rest of management, complaining about how 'impossible' the
company was making for him to develop business. He didn't
grow the business at all in four years. And he finally left
the organization.
His replacement, Dan, came in with less experience in the
industry, a milder manner and a curiosity for what might
work. And guess what? Dan brought in double the record in
new business in half the time. The difference? Dan wondered
how the company could accomplish its marketing more
productively, and came up with new answers. And new results.
Sometimes we get stuck seeing a situation or event from a
very narrow point of view. I know I got so intensely
focused on how much had to be accomplished to bring all of
you a valuable experience in the 2007 Success
TeleConference that I spent hours trying to solve something
that felt complex. Suggestions? I didn't want them! I was
already absorbed viewing it one-way inside my own
"Certainty Bubble."
You could probably name some situation where you're so
immersed in a process that even when a friend or colleague
tries to propose another approach to take they barely got
the description out before you shut them down with "That
won't work!"
Your breath is short, your body is tense, your impatience
and annoyance have you taut as a bowstring as you arm
yourself against anyone arguing about or contradicting what
you're absolutely certain of.
How do I know that? I've been there too! Just reading all
of that has my muscles tensing up.
Over the years I've found that EVERYONE is susceptible to
being absolutely certain. That attitude blocks us from
seeing the wealth of possible alternatives. We keep a solid
wall in place that stops even the slightest of 'different'
points of view from creeping in. We move our bodies around
all day, but our attitudes are nailed down and unmoving.
The point is to not let your current point of view stop
you. Many of the alternatives we refuse to see have a
greater potential for creating our desired success than the
one we're holding onto for dear life. Sure enough, when I
step back and get distance I discover that there's a quick
and simple solution or alternative I couldn't see. And my
clients discover the same thing for themselves. So here's
High Payoff Technique for Bursting the Certainty Bubble and
Shifting Perspectives - "Widen Your View"
There are several techniques that I use with clients (and
myself) when that self-created 'stall out' becomes
apparent. One of my favorites is "Widen Your View."
Imagine yourself in a movie theater, standing with your
nose on the screen, thinking that the story you see in
front of you is absolutely all there is to see. In fact
you're only 'seeing' perhaps ten square inches immediately
before you, if your eyes can even focus at that point. By
being so close to what you're viewing you're missing every
other piece of information, in every direction.
The Widen Your View approach is used to shift your
perspective about the situation much like taking steps back
from the screen and getting a broader view of the movie
you're living. One step at a time, step 'back' from your
view of the situation and deliberately use the phrase "I
wonder..." For Dan the questions were:
"I wonder what it could be like to do business development
without taking people out for meals?"
"I wonder what I could send to a client to interest them in
a solution for their business?
"I wonder what 10 ideas I could come up with that no one
else is doing for them?"
Step by step. One step back and one question. Then another
and another. All the way back until you become an observer
with a wide field of view and the 'screen' shrinks and
'reality' becomes a picture of a situation outside of
yourself. The further you step, the less personal the
'movie' will feel. And a greater number of alternative ways
you can consider it become available to you.
Now imagine what might be offered if you brought a team
together and posed those questions to the entire group.
From this new attitude of wondering, interesting things
begin to show up. When I use it, people around me
'suddenly' have all kinds of great ideas. Magazine articles
have idea after idea that I can adapt to use in my own
business. And for my clients? Well the results speak for
themselves - new possibilities, new approaches, new
accelerated results.
If you'll Widen Your View, you'll notice new ways of
approaching each of your current situations and of solving
issues that seem like obstacles as well.
----------------------------------------------------
© 2008 Linda Feinholz Management expert, consultant,
and coach Linda Feinholz is "Your High Payoff Catalyst" If
you're ready to focus on your High Payoff activities, boost
your professional and personal results and have more fun,
get her FREE audio mini-course "7 Quick & Simple Steps to
Increase Your Focus, Ease Your Effort & Accelerate Your
Results" and the free weekly newsletter The Spark! Visit
http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com
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