PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE - June Voice

Advice from the street

I wonder… What if… Let’s try

My son is a big fan of Elmo and Sesame Street. If I’m honest, so am I. That little red dude has some great words of wisdom. I love how he talks about himself, about others, and the values he teaches. One of my favorite segments focuses on an approach to problem solving that has me intrigued. Whenever the friends find themselves faced with a challenge (and usually after some frustration at the original approach to solve the problem), they stop and refocus, asking themselves three poignant questions:

I wonder... What if... Let’s try...

(There are hand movements that go with each, but lucky for you, dear reader, the medium of this piece spares you from my reenactment.)

The first time I heard the approach, I thought it was pretty clever. The friends are focused to first identify the problem or visualize the solution. They then go into brainstorming mode. And finally, execution.

Those little Muppets know that repetition is the key to learning, so they repeat this segment throughout the show in different ways and through tons of different episodes. I’ve heard the approach so many times now (we’ve watched a lot of Elmo with some illness that has run through the house) that I can’t help but start to apply the approach to my own work.

“I wonder what we can do to improve the talent pipeline in our community?”

“What if we focused on a specific niche of the workforce, community wide?”

“Let’s try growing and clarifying the ways in which organizations in our region are family friendly to attract workers with children.”

Or

“I wonder if our members and community understand the value and importance of a robust Chamber of Commerce to the business community?”

“What if we developed a strategic plan that focused on member needs postCOVID and outlined opportunities for growth combined with tactics to measure and achieve success?”

“Let’s try to focus our efforts on a strategic plan that’s based in data and combined with story telling.”

Are either of these ideas 100% flushed out? Nope. But the process is there. It’s an organized start with an actionable next step. And, honestly, it was easy. Thinking this way allowed me to clear my thoughts a bit and focus in a little more. Sometimes, my brain is firing far too much. The world is loud, my kids are chaotic (in the BEST way), distractions are everywhere. This easy process slows all of that down and shuts down some noise. And it works. I’ve been trying it on my kids when they get frustrated, and it helps move them through a process as well.

Even better, this process really neutralizes emotions that may go into big issues. When trying to solve a complex problem that’s super charged with emotion, backing up and having a process to work through that focuses specifically on actionable steps really helps. It moves me from a negative mode - The talent pipeline is such a huge problem in our community – we aren’t making the progress our businesses need – to a fact-based, action-oriented position. It removes my ego, helps calm down any extra feelings I may have about a particular issue, and just focus on the true problem.

As a community, we need to tackle big issues in a action-oriented way and leave egos at the door. We can’t truly solve a problem if we are constantly worried about power, influence or credit. We can’t listen when we focus on emotions or ego. We become defensive and suspicious when we feel threatened. Somehow, I Wonder, What If, Let’s Try cuts through all of that noise and laser focuses on the true problem and begins to solidify a solution. Sure, its tactics aimed at children – but could you imagine if adults modeled this way of thinking? Could you imagine if our children were raised to approach issues with this process? How much farther along would we as a community, region, world be?

What a wonderful, happy place the world would be.

Sesame Street might be my new favorite spot for leadership inspiration!