A few weeks ago on a Tuesday morning, a creative team I had become the team lead for had encountered a problem. A new podcast episode had a glitch and the client was not happy. The team started reacting to how the client was reacting. It was not a good way to start off a new month with a new team.
I am the new guy, the “hired gun.” I was brought in to lead the team because of my experience. But I realized that at the moment that problem solving is not just about reacting, it’s also about how you approach the situations you encounter.
My amazing daughter Lexi Gray so graciously gave me a copy of Matthew McConaughey’s “Green Lights” for Christmas this past year. I had just finished reading the book a week or so prior to this situation. In the book, McConaughey shares the process he went through when he decided to back off from accepting roles in “rom coms.”
The approach McConaughey used that he shared in “Greenlights”:
Recognize the problem
Stabilize the situation
Organize the response
Respond
I shared this approach with my team that morning. I wrote:
“…this is how we will deal with anything like this.”
We recognized the problem and began troubleshooting.
We stabilized the situation and updated the client that we were working on a solution.
We organized our responses in a timely manner. And we sought the wisdom of another senior team member who helped us fast-track the solution.
We then gave a response in a timely manner to the client. And the situation was resolved.
I realize we may not always have time to use this approach every time. And the timeliness of response is critical in some situations. If I had chosen to procrastinate and delay our response, that might not have had a positive outcome. I plan on making this approach a habit regardless of what I encounter as sometimes we need a tool or a way of thinking to help us navigate what we encounter.
What is an approach or mantra that has been helpful to you?
