When clients find themselves stymied by a problem or they’re struggling to make a decision, I suggest they examine the situation through a different lens using frameworks to guide their thinking and to gain a new perspective.
One framework I’ve found helpful in getting people unstuck in their problem-solving poses a set of questions. As the table below shows, the Blame Frame drills down on the details of the problem while the Aim Frame sets the problem in the broader context of goals. If someone is focused only on Blame issues, shifting their focus to the Aim side can reveal alternative solutions and different approaches.
Smart Work, The Syntax Guide for Mutual Understanding in the Workplace by Lisa J. Marshall and Lucy D. Freedman
Think of a situation you are currently facing. Answer the questions on the left side and then notice your emotions: how do you feel about the situation, others, and yourself? Have you gained clarity about the situation and your motivation to address it.
Now answer the questions about the situation using the right side. Again, notice how you feel about the situation, others, and yourself. Note any changes in your clarity about the situation and motivation to address it.
Some people feel the need to focus on the left side (the problem definition side) before they can move to the right side (the solution side). Others feel comfortable moving immediately to the solution side. No one approach is right or wrong. The key is to recognize the possibilities available from each set of questions.
Sometimes problems arise when people see the same situation differently and can’t agree on a course of action. In that case I suggest the ladder framework illustrated below to help people understand another person’s perspective.
The Ladder of Inference by The Systems Thinker
When two people have examined a problem and come up with a conclusion, they are at the top of the ladder: they have analyzed the data, selected salient pieces of it, and made meaning of what they selected. But when people disagree about the conclusion, it’s useful for them to go back down the ladder and look at the data together, understand why each chose which data to include in their assessment, and how the data informed their conclusions. This exercise often results in them agreeing on next steps.
For example, two managers in a design company were assessing the performance of an employee, Sam. Laura, the Finance Manager, felt that Sam was careless, sloppy, and disorganized and should be put on a performance plan. His expense reports were often late and he didn’t have receipts for all the charges. Tanya, the Design Director, felt that Sam was exceptional: he always completed his drawings on time and with high quality. She wanted to promote Sam. How could these two managers have such divergent appraisals?
Because Laura and Tanya were at a loss for what actions to take regarding Sam, I asked them to go down the ladder and share the data they used to form their conclusions. Laura, who worked in the same office with Sam, mentioned the messiness of his desk, the old coffee cups strewn around, and how it takes him a good bit of time to find receipts or documents when she asks for them. Tanya, who worked remotely and rarely saw the state of Sam’s desk, said that Sam’s work products always exceeded expectations and he submitted them in a timely manner.
Once they looked at Sam’s behavior at the data level it was clear to see why they had different experiences. Sam loved doing the drawings and spent time making sure they were accurate, but he felt the expense reports and administrative work was not as important and were a waste of his time. He put those tasks off and when he finally got around to doing them, he didn’t give them the attention he devoted to his drawings.
In looking at the same data, Laura saw why Tanya thought highly of Sam and Laura understood Tanya’s frustration with him. They agreed to counsel him on his administrative work. They praised the high quality of his drawings but explained that they expected him to make the same level of effort in administrative tasks like expense reports and timesheets. In addition, as a courtesy to his coworkers, he needed to keep his work area clean.
When your clients aren’t seeing eye to eye with others, consider using one of these perspective-shifting frameworks to help them gain clarity into the situation and develop new solutions.