Keep Moving Forward: Team Management during Uncertain Times

In a moment of extreme stress and turmoil we look for one thing — survival. Stress is a massive wave, knocking you off your feet and into the ocean. Once in the ocean, we try to stay afloat until help arrives or eventually get back to shore. When hit by waves of stressful events, successful corporate leaders need to simultaneously build a lifeboat for their teams to stay afloat as well as provide the constructs of a safe harbor for their team to progress to success. This is an apt metaphor for our times and the challenges we need to overcome.

How do you start building a lifeboat while in the middle of the ocean- when the waves keep coming?

Meseekna research has repeatedly shown that an individual’s success during turbulent times, is invariably and inextricably tied to their grasp of the metacognitive measure categorized as “Advanced Strategy”. Simply put, advanced strategy is your ability to think strategically three to five steps ahead, while weighing several different outcome possibilities, without the possibilities weighing down your thought process. While incredibly difficult to perform well on during periods of high stress, it is a marker seen consistently in high achieving individuals; it is the pinnacle of complex thinking. It is not a surprise that individuals equipped with strong advanced strategy are top performing executives, leaders in their field or rapidly rising talents.

To boost your team’s advanced strategy, it is helpful to begin with our acronym; C-A-N. C-A-N stands for identifying and acknowledging Constraints, reframing situations through the lens of Alternate futures, and drafting the next chapter of the organizational Narrative.

Constraints

First, work with your team to identify a few key decisions that are coming up and make a list of constraints on upcoming decisions. This kind of constraint exercise can help remove organizational blinders quickly and thoughtfully.

As an example, ask: Are you working with a limited budget? Are you working with a smaller team? Then remove the constraint and re-examine the decision point. What would you do if you didn’t have a limited budget? What would you do if you had more people to help? Is that an outcome that might be more valuable for the organization? Is there a way to work around the constraint to reach that outcome?

Alternate Futures

Next, urge your team to start thinking about the future in a creative way. Choose specific outcomes of an event in the future that is uncertain, and ask your team to think about what strategies they might employ given the outcome, and what strategies they might wish they had implemented now. This kind of visioning exercise, in conjunction with the constraints exercise, can help shift perspectives on decision making in critical ways.

As an example, ask: If we hit this milestone, what will we do next? If our supplier suddenly shuts down, what do we do next?

Narrative

Lastly, help your team zoom out to the big picture of the story you want to tell about this moment in your company’s history. This can help put this moment in context of the larger scope of the organization’s history and future, creating a solid sense of purpose and legacy for employees.

As an example, ask: What is the story of the organization during a pandemic you want to tell in twenty years? What are the kinds of actions that align with your mission?

In coaching individuals to advanced strategy success, it’s important to know that this is hard cognitive work. It takes practice and guidance to start to unpack the consequences of one action leading to several other actions leading to another set of decision points- and then have a strategy in place for those decision points. It’s not easy, but your team can get started on the right path by thoughtfully implementing the acronym C-A-N.

If you read this far and learned something valuable, share, comment and follow me for more metacognitive tips and tricks! Thank you so much.

For more information on how Meseekna can help your team succeed with advanced strategy, please reach out to us directly. We would love to help.