(Check out the free Strategic Readiness Inventory© and TPQ© tools at the bottom of this blog)
I feel like I am banging my head against a wall. And not just a wall in my home, I am talking about big mental walls that look like the Berlin Wall or the Great Wall of China.
These barriers can seem insurmountable and grow before our eyes as we navigate these uncertain times. At times I am not even sure what the wall is that I am facing. It’s just huge.
But the Berlin Wall was brought down and the Great Wall of China has eroded and even collapsed in places. Even if they stand firm before us, there are ways to get around those walls. Just ask Chinese historians about Genghis Khan.
We too face walls; some need to be broken down and others we need to circumvent. At the time of this blog, we are all facing the Coronavirus wall. But that has also spawned other walls like economic uncertainty, employment hurdles, and the tectonic shifts of whole industries.
There is a simple tool you can use for you and your team to break down those walls. It’s called H2:’s. H2: is a simple abbreviation for “How To:” and gives you a framework for crashing through, leaping over, or finding ways around the walls you are facing.
Start by brainstorming all the walls you are facing and then convert those into H2: statements. For example, a wall like “uncertainty in our industry” could be converted to “H2: run forward when we have so many unknowns.” Another wall might be “we don’t have enough resources to (fill in the blank)” and it can be converted into “H2: get the job done when we are resource constrained.” These are simple, general examples, but to the degree you can define specific walls you face, you will be able to create powerful and specific H2: statements that will shift thinking from obstacles to opportunities.
Three TPQ’s© (Thought Provoking Questions) are:
What barriers do we face that, if we overcome them, could catapult us forward?
We tend to avoid barriers and shy away from them. They can be scary and limiting. In a few sentences we will see how to unmask the ugly cloak of fear that comes from these barriers.
What barriers do our customers face?
Just as we face hurdles, so too do our customers. If we can help our customers overcome their walls, we become imminently more valued.
How can I convert barriers to opportunities?
This is where we can use our H2: (How To:) statements to convert any barrier into an opportunity. Watch how your thinking shifts when you turn barriers into H2: statements. It opens our eyes and minds in powerful ways. Use your list from the first question to create your H2:’s.