VOL. 126 | NO. 134 | Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Smart Stuff 4 Work
Chris Crouch
Overcoming Obstacles To Find Success
Chris Crouch
Sooner or later we all encounter them, obstacles that stand in the way of successfully accomplishing a desired goal. Quite often, these obstacles show up in the form of other humans. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world sees eye-to-eye with you or feels the need to help or support you when you want to accomplish something. What should you do when someone blocks your path to success? Perhaps the best way to approach this problem is to consider your options.
One, you can give up or, in effect, run away from or avoid the person who is attempting to block your progress. Of course, this requires that you abandon your goal. Not a good outcome.
Two, you can try to forcefully deal with or overpower the person. This might result in the accomplishment your goal and short-term success, but success may be costly in the long run. Even if you win the power struggle, many opponents will simply retreat and lay in wait for the next opportunity to block your success with a better plan and even more resolve.
Three, you can try to go around or circumvent the person. In terms of dealing with other humans, this too typically results in temporary success at best. As Douglas MacArthur and Arnold Schwarzenegger said in slightly different ways, “I shall be back.” Doing an end-around often works well in football; however, it doesn’t work so well in the business world.
So, what option remains? Those who study mythology might advise you to “incorporate the obstacle into your adventure.” OK, I suspect those of you who do not study mythology are thinking, “What!?”
Pursuing a goal is a form of an adventure. When anyone tries to block your progress, pause and see if you can think of any way to make their support of your adventure appealing or beneficial to them. This is a bit of a Godfather-like strategy in that you need to approach the problem with a mental attitude of “it’s business, not personal.” Odds are if someone is impeding your progress, you are not going to feel very fond of them. Rather than looking for a mutually beneficial solution, you might feel more like getting even with them for making life difficult for you.
But what if you can put aside your anger and frustration, genuinely look at things from their point of view, and find a way to make your goal or adventure beneficial to them? Again, mythologists will tell you that storytellers throughout history often relate tales of how such a strategy can sometimes convert enemies to friends, obstructionist into supporters. Effective politicians use this strategy frequently to accomplish their goals. In terms of human nature, this is by no means the easiest strategy to embrace. However, go back over your options and think about the consequences of all of them. If there is any way to pull it off, this is clearly the best strategy. Who is blocking your progress? What’s on their mind?
Chris Crouch, author of “Getting More Done” and other books on improving productivity, can be contacted at cc@dmetraining.com.