.. and a short and sweet reflection about our signature coaching and consulting approach.
Haven’t we all been there? Everything is super big, the project we’re working on totally overwhelming and we’re spinning ‘round and ‘round to find that mega coup solution. And then it doesn’t come. We’re going deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. And then when we finally decide to dig ourselves out and go grab a coffee, we talk to a colleague or friend and right there and without much knowledge or expertise they give us magical ideas and everything seems so easy. Been there!
Or another one. We spend hours and hours working on a document for a group of stakeholders, send it out just in time for the project deadline, nervously await their reply …. And all we hear in the next meeting is “Puh, yeah, I saw your email but honestly when I opened the attachment and saw that it was thatlong I realized I didn’t have the time to read it anyway and just decided to talk to you today.” Bummer! How disrespectful!
Actually, no! We should start sweeping around our own front door before we claim being disrespected. What a lot of people in the workplace have in common is that they are stressed out by unrealistic deadlines, pressured by cut budgets, overwhelmed by complex organizations and frustrated because everything feels outside of their control. They appreciate nothing more than when things are kept simple. Meeting people where they are and bringing back some simplicity wherever possible is not only a relief for executives and their teams alike, it often leads to the same or even better results than delivering – yes - entirely thought through, perfectly polished but at the same time blown up and “final final” concepts. Those often lack the opportunity to participate and by that challenge the recipients even more because they need to take the time to go through the whole thing, understand the entire complexity generated by someone else’s brain and decide if they buy in.
But how do we get back to simplicity?
Personally, I LOVE details, I pay a lot of attention to them - “the more the merrier” - but what I love even more is combining them to a WHOLE picture which often becomes more beautiful the simpler it is. No matter if in coaching, consulting or in life I let myself be guided by an intuitive mix of 1) KISS – Keep It Small and Simple, 2) Design Thinking, specifically its collaborative approach and 3) the “Form Follows Function” Bauhaus design approach.
Taken together that results in
asking my clients simple, yet powerful questions
analyzing the roots of complexities to see what the actual needs of an organization are
challenging if those needs can only be satisfied through complex systems or even better yet through simpleinnovative solutions
encouraging my clients to go small steps, one at a time to make a change
and ideate, test small things out, collaborate radically, leave room for feedback and adjust on the go
On Wednesday I took a yoga class and all of the above presented itself and the simplest way. I was in some weird twisted position which’s name I’ve already forgotten. My fabulous instructor Steven just said “And now turn your foot just a little more to the right and you will feel a whole new and deeper stretch.” It was the movement of an inch, as simple as it could be, yet the result was huge.
Try a big KISS. It’s simply human!
Yours Sonja