The Two Things That Hold Us Back, part 1

I’m a big IKEA fan. We recently remodeled an old farmhouse, and when you’re taking on a big project like that, IKEA will save the day for you. But I remember the first time I went to an IKEA. It was a freshly-built behemoth in Orlando, Florida, and I needed a laundry hamper. I found one relatively quickly, and was ready to leave. But have you ever tried to leave an IKEA when you’re in the middle of it? It’s quite a production.

All I really wanted was the way out. There were a lot of things in front of me, but none were interesting to me because it was time to exit the building.

We often find ourselves in situations where we are looking for the one door to take us where we need to be. In the noise that constantly inundates us, we want to know the one next step that will allow us to focus and engage in doing our best work. We see this in our professional lives, but in other places as well. It’s time to move forward, and we just need to know how.

Generally, there are two things that keep us from making progress. The first is clarity. We need to know what our next step is. In the Ikea illustration, I needed to know where the exit was. I didn’t need a laundry basket or an armoire or soup bowls; I needed to find the way out. Out of many possible options, only one (or at most a couple) could possibly be right.

This is a simple but powerful idea, so don’t miss it: a major reason many of us are stuck is that we don’t have clarity on what’s next. We get busy, expending energy and trying to move forward, but we haven’t established exactly what direction forward is. Whether in Ikea or in your career, it’s best to stop and get your bearings. Find clarity by identifying which door you’re looking for. 

You do this by moving from the big picture to the small. In strategy, it’s always important to remember that purpose should drive process. Determine the point so you can determine your next step. Once I know the location of the exit, I can string together the steps to move me from here to there. Speed is important.

But in the land of strategy, clarity is king. 

In Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice In Wonderland, there is an exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat that provides a powerful illustration of this:

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

Alice: I don't much care where.

The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.

Wandering aimlessly around is not the best way to reach your destination. Doing the same thing faster isn’t much better. What if instead we took a moment to plot the most direct course from here to there?

-to be continued-