Empowering you to lead a joyful and creative life

The other day I enjoyed watching a show on Colorado Public Television called Being Strategic with Erika Andersen.

The show and her book with the same title is about approaching life and business with strategic thought and action.

She is currently on a book tour and graciously agreed to give us a couple of tips.

Sally: In order to begin creating a strategy, you need to have an idea of what direction to start. What do you think is one of the best ways for someone to clarify what they want?

Erika: This is exactly why I encourage folks to begin the process of being strategic by “defining the challenge.”

In my mind, the first step in clarifying what you want is to get clear about what’s not working. For instance, let’s say a small company has a new product that isn’t selling well.

All too often in that situation, people just start proposing solutions: “let’s do a new marketing campaign,” “let’s pump up the sales force,” “let’s make it green instead of blue.”

Instead, we encourage people to ask the simple question, “What’s not working?” The superficial answer might be, “The product’s not selling.”

But if you dig under that a little, ask “what part of the sales process isn’t working?” you might discover that, for instance, that the product’s benefit to the customer isn’t immediately obvious. Ah-ha!

So then you frame that up as a “How can we….?” question: maybe something like “How can we make it drop dead easy for the customer to know how useful the product is?”

Then they know what direction to start: once they know what their challenge is, they can then get as clear as possible on their current state relative to that challenge – where they’re starting from.

Once they’ve done that, they can envision “what they want,” in your words. That is, the future in which their challenge has been addressed: where the customers know exactly what the product is capable of doing, and they’re excited about it!

Sally: I think a lot of people are afraid to “dream big” because it may seem too far out of reach, but then maybe they aren’t thinking big enough. How would you suggest they hold a big enough vision to excite them?

There’s a phrase we use: “reasonable aspiration.” I love it because it so simply describes the “sweet spot” for visioning. One the one hand, you want your vision to be inspirational. That is, you want it to feel like a stretch: it’s not your current reality, and you’re really going to have to focus, work your plan, and be attentive to serendipity in order to achieve it.

But on the other hand, it needs to be reasonable. That is, you have to be able to look at your vision objectively and say there are not any un-overcome-able obstacles to achieving it.

My favorite example of UNreasonable aspiration are the contestants on American Idol who simply cannot sing – they can’t sing, and clearly don’t have the ability to learn to sing – and their vision is to be the next American singing sensation!

So, if you hold a vision that’s a ‘reasonable aspiration’ for you – it will probably feel big enough to be exciting.

Sally: I would add that if it really seems out of reach, to look at what you like about that idea and there still may be aspects of that vision that are a ‘reasonable aspiration’.

Erika, thanks for taking the time to give us these tips on Being Strategic!

Check out her website and get her book for more information.

Erika Andersen is the founding partner of Proteus International, a consulting and training firm that helps client organizations clarify and move toward their hoped-for-future. She serves as coach and advisor to the senior executives of such companies as GE, Time Warner Cable, TJX, NBC Universal, Union Square Hospitality Group, and Cablevision Corporation. Andersen is the author of Growing Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People into Extraordinary Performers (Portfolio, 2006) and Being Strategic: Plan for Success; Outthink Your Competitors; Stay Ahead of Change (St. Martin’s Press, May 2009), and the author and host of Being Strategic with Erika Andersen on Public Television.

You can find out more at www.erikaandersen.com

P.S. If you need help with figuring out a better way or what to do next, email me for an idea session. I’d love to help you!

Filed under: creating a life you love, creative process, goals
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“Serious play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation.”
Michael Schrage

Play is essential to creativity and innovation but we often see it as a either a luxury or waste of time.

Experimentation and play allow creativity to flourish.

When you let yourself play, it is usually without expecting a certain outcome.

That alone allows freedom to try new things or ask what if kinds of questions.

Some of my best jewelry designs have come from that state of playing around and seeing what would happen.

You also tend to be in a more relaxed state when you play.

Play also implies fun. Who doesn’t want more of that? I know I do!

How can you add more play to your life?

P.S. This is one of my whimsical animal prints called Talking Llama

Filed under: creative, fun, play
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Do you ever feel like you are on a roller coaster ride? One minute you feel like you have things figured out and are excited to start. And the next minute you lose focus or momentum and feel frustrated and unsure about what you want.

I notice that with myself, clients, and friends, that you usually do know what would make you happy.

The answers to what would make you happy and why are usually consistent with your values and the things that matter to you, which typically don’t change too much.

Most of the problems and challenges are in the HOW and THE WAY you go about getting what you want.

3 Blocks to Your Creativity, Success, and Happiness

I Don’t Know How, So There.
You may know what you want to accomplish but you don’t know how and it stops you in your tracks. End of story.

Another variation of this is to say, “I can’t because….” without exploring the possibilities.

Everyone has a learning process in figuring out how to do something and there is plenty of help out there.

Here are just a few ideas of where to start:

• Read a How to Book
• Research the Internet
• Take a Class
• Join a Group
• Get a Coach
• Find a Mentor

Find someone who is doing something similar and study what they do.
There is never only one way to do things. You may come up with a creative solution if you give yourself a chance.

All or Nothing Thinking
Do you ever get caught up in feeling like there is only one way to be happy?

For example, some may feel like they will ONLY be happy if they make their living doing what they love.

It usually takes time and patience to make a full time living at what you love so you may want to start on the side until you get things going.

The way achieve your goal doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Do the things that you love in your life in various ways. You might do them for a living full time or part time, you might volunteer your expertise, you might do something just for fun.

Figure out ways to add more of what you love into your every day life.

The Only Thing that Matters is the End
Have you ever worked on something with such tunnel vision that when it was over, you only had a brief moment of happiness that you achieved your goal but realized you put the rest of your life on hold while you did it?

Your quality of life depends on how you spend your moments and days. It is important to have time for play, exploration, and fun. And who says you can’t do that and focus at the same time?

How can you make things easier? How can you make things more fun or enjoyable? Ask these questions over and over.

Take time to enjoy the journey along the way and be open to possibilities.

P.S. If you need help with figuring out a better way or what to do next, email me for an idea session. I’d love to help you!

Filed under: Choices, Happiness, creating a life you love, creative solutions, support
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