doug smith training

I remember when my kids were little, every once in a while we'd tell them "don't be scared." Because, of course, they were. We're all scared sometimes. Big problems can scare us. What on earth will we do? How will we ever solve such a tough problem? That's our sign. Solve that thing. Get working on it. Don't be scared. Fear of a problem is all the more reason to solve it. Centered problem solvers don't internalize the fear of a problem - they energize around it. You're not afraid of that little problem are you? Me, either. -- Doug Smith

Are you looking for more balance in your life? I facilitate some workshops that include people who are desperately looking for ways to balance their work and their life. Sometimes they are looking for a magic wand, and that's not available. There are ways to find this balance. There are things that each of us can do to keep our focus. One essential ingredient is to keep in touch with our creative center. Our creative center is that part of us that simply knows when we need to move from the ordinary and find creative ways to move forward. Our creative center stores up our creative experiences and makes them available when they are needed (and, they are needed often!) Our creative center is that place where we can balance our flexibility with our urgency in order to see more possibilities. Anxiety, worry, and tension are often generated by the failure to see more possibilities.  But we do have the tools to overcome that - the creativity that we develop can supply the focus an

What happens when we use the same solution over and over even when the problems change? We don't really solve new problems that way do we? And yet so often we pull the same old tools out of our tool box and try the same old solutions. New problems require new thinking. New problems require new solutions. It's funny how we sometimes keep trying to same solution on totally new problems. Funny, but not effective. Let's do better than that. Let's be more creative. Let's develop new ideas. How do we do that? Here are a few ways: turn your idea upside down - how would it work reversed? ask other experts what they think ask people who are NOT experts what they think look at the problem as if you were ten years old again. What would you do? reframe your problem as a goal. How could you achieve that goal. rethink your problem as a benefit. What would you do to get more of that problem? Now, how would you reverse that? is the root cause what you think it

Do your problems threaten to wear you down? Are they pulling the energy out of you? Sometimes problems do that to me. It's almost as if they're looking for me to surrender. I won't surrender. A problem might wear me down but it won't wear me out. How about you? Will you endure? Will you persist? Will you be a durable problem solver? -- Doug Smith

How curious are you? Problems bother us. They get in the way. They ruin our day. They create havoc where we'd rather have peace. Why do they do that? When we can stay curious about our problems it helps us to generate more meaningful, more powerful, and more sustainable solutions. Where did that problem come from? Why does it stick around? What benefits might it be generating to someone else? Is it really a problem or are we locked into a conflict or competition? Who else is feeling what we're feeling? Why? Why? Why? (useful to ask about a problem - but be careful when it comes to asking "why" about or from a person. That can trigger defensiveness in a hurry!) It's tough to solve a problem or resolve a conflict without big amounts of curiosity. Curiosity about causes. Curiosity about opportunities. Curiosity about solutions. Curiosity about possibilities. Once we begin to get more curious about possibilities, our possibilities increase.  And, when our

Why do people fool themselves about their problems? We trick ourselves into thinking that our problems are someone else's fault. We fool ourselves into thinking that our problems are insurmountable. We fool ourselves about problems constantly. What if problems had a secret? What if there was a basic truth about our problems that we tend to avoid - and by avoiding it tend to miss on solving our problems? Underneath every problem is an unachieved goal. That's it. That's the truth about problems. I teach people to redirect their problems into goals. Once we're able to state our problem as a goal, it becomes much easier to achieve. Focus on the goal, and get what you want. Focus on the problem, and you might just get more of the problem. Which would you prefer? What unsolved problem can you convert to a goal today? Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High Performance Leadership Training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals What have you lea

Do all the problems of the world sometimes seem overwhelming? What on earth can we do? What we can't do as individuals is solve them all. It's too much. I get tired just thinking about it. But, there is still much that we can do. There are problems that we can help solve. We can work together and focus on what matters most to us and set noble goals. Then, centered and creative we can achieve those goals. Once we realize it's not our job to solve every problem it becomes easier to solve the problems we are ready to solve. What problem are you ready to solve? -- Doug Smith doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success What have you learned today?

Do you ever think that it's a bit hard to uncover the truth? Sometimes I've worked on problems where the hardest part in getting through an obstacle is uncovering the truth behind what's causing it. And yet, once the truth is uncovered, things can get moving again. People have their reasons for hiding things. Maybe they are afraid of the consequences. Maybe their self-esteem is at stake. Maybe they just don't know any better. As leaders, when we stay curious and persistent we can do everybody a favor by discovering the truth. The objective, fact-driven, feeling-validated truth. Solving that for the whole world would take a lifetime. Solving that for each project is just plain responsible and certainly possible. It takes more courage to uncover the truth and that's because the payoff is so huge. Finding the truth helps us solve our problems and achieve our goals, and that's what project management is all about. What deep-rooted truths does your projec

Have you ever noticed that one of the toughest parts to solving a problem is getting people to adapt the solution? We just don't like to change. Sometimes our solution feels tougher than living with the problem. The discipline of doing something differently, and better, is challenging. Some of the biggest problems have the easiest of solutions. The challenge is influencing people to change. What are your easy answers? What do you think prevents people from doing those changes? How can we influence them quickly and collaboratively? Answer those questions successfully, and lots of problems melt away. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership: High performance leadership training doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

Do you have a favorite solution? I've misapplied solutions sometimes simply because they were my favorite answers. Need more flexibility? Take all the flexibility you need. Or not. The answer that first pops into our mind is not always the right answer. It's just the answer we know best. That big problem might be easier to solve once we let go of that ineffective solution so deeply imbedded in us. We might be conditioned to pick that idea. We might be in a pattern of dysfunction. We might be wrong. Can you let go of an imbedded solution long enough to make room for something new? You can always come back to your favorite idea if it turns out to be the best one. But it often isn't. Solving project problems usually means creating something completely new. Where do your best NEW ideas come from? -- Doug Smith doug smith training: how to achieve your project goals

What keeps us from solving our biggest problems? Our biggest problems are big for a reason. They include baggage, challenges, surprises, resistance, and blocks that feel stronger than we are. Our biggest problems can seem tough and even insurmountable. We work our way around them as long as we can because bumping into them causes us so much discomfort. The problem with big problems is that they don't go away on their own, they get bigger. A problem ignored tends to grow increasingly faster.  Not only is that big problem getting bigger, but it's getting bigger at a faster rate and with more deeply rooted tentacles that create additional problems. We owe it to ourselves to tackle those big problems now. Roll up our sleeves, check our egos at the door, do whatever it takes but work on them now. Because if you don't like that problem now, how much will you like it when it's at least twice as big? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors

Wouldn't it be great if there were one absolute answer to every problem? What if there were one universal tool that would always serve us, one magnificent process to problem solving forever and for always? There are many great problem solving processes. There are many great approaches to leadership. Styles change, tools grow, people evolve. One single answer seldom does the trick. That unsolved problem just might need a combination of solutions. Dig them up. Look them over. Try them again. Put them together like the pieces of an elaborate puzzle or the moves in an intricate game. There is an answer there. You just might have to fuse a few together. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success  doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Are you truly ready to achieve your goals? Do you have the resources, the team, the initiative, the energy to achieve even your toughest of goals? Or, are there problems standing in the way? Problems are not a bad thing. Yes, they are annoying. Yes, they can be energy draining. Yes, they get in our way. But they are paths to creativity. They are reasons for compassion. They are motivators for courage. And they are barometers for clarity. Figure out what you need to solve and then get started. If the goal is important, the problem is just a way to get there creatively. Sometimes we need to solve our problems before we can achieve our goals. Maybe today's one of those days... -- Doug Smith doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success

Have you ever offered the best possible piece of advice to someone only to see them fail to implement that advice? You knew it was fool-proof. You knew it would work. What were they thinking? What were YOU thinking? I've done that many times. My head can produce lots of creative ideas with the clarity it takes to get right to the heart of someone else's problem. Except, they don't see it that way. They may make a feeble or half-hearted attempt at the solution, but it's not their idea and they don't see how it will work. So it doesn't. Yes, as leaders we do need to coach and counsel and help people to come up with great ideas for solutions. Yes, we do need to collaborate creatively in a centered manner that allows our great thoughts to be heard AND their great thoughts to be appreciated. That's how we get to the agreements that lead to robust, workable, effective solutions. The problem with giving someone else the solution to their problem is that the

Have you ever come up with a really great solution idea that just didn't work? It had everything you needed to solve the problem except for one big thing: support? Developing creative and centered solutions to our problems is important. But what's just as important (maybe more so) is getting the support we need from the people impacted by the problem. They must help, they must support, they must agree. If you want a solution to work, pick the best agreed-to solution. It might not be your favorite solution. It might not seem like the best solution to you. But an agreed-to solution has a much better chance of actually working. Have you asked the people involved in solving your biggest problem what they think? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

How do you feel right after you have solved a problem? Do you get a boost of energy, of personal satisfaction? Do you feel more confident and self-assured? Any problem that you solve will likely make you feel better. Solving problems comes with all sorts of benefits. - Enhanced perspective (see what's possible!) - More centered teams (we did it!) - Increased confidence (that didn't stand in OUR way!) - Improved skills (let's do this again soon!) - Expanded creativity (something new has been discovered or made!) and, of course, that pesky problem is solved. Solving problems comes with benefits. Why not cash in on some of those benefits soon? What problem are you working on today? -- Doug Smith

A creative problem solving activity. Purpose: Create deep conversations around perceived truths. Materials:  Talking stick or microphone. Seating:  Circle Process: As we travel thru life we learn a few things. Things we were once certain about change and feel less certain. Things we did not believe or know emerge as our new truth. Do you believe in lasting truth? Do you hold a few beliefs that you feel will stand the test of time? Follow the CLUES for Success guidelines and when it is your turn, share 3 to 5 beliefs that you think are certain. Options: To prime the pump, share some “certainties” from others in short phrases or quotes. Some  examples: (Doug’s list) • The truth will always bubble to the top. • God is love. • Everything is personal. • Nothing is ever off-the-record. Expand: A. Use recording equipment to create a visual record of people providing their wisdom. As a group, edit and produce a film. B. Play with figure/ground con