I led a strategy session not too long ago.

It started it with a bitch session.  Everyone had 60 minutes to bitch about everything they didn’t like, that wasn’t working, what was keeping them from being successful, that made their life difficult.   Nothing was off limits.  For 60 minutes that’s all that was done.  Everyone bitched, complained and whined.  No solutions, no growth, no action, everyone just sat in it.

After the bitch session, the team had 60 minutes to discuss what WAS working.   For 60 minutes they shared successes, described what was working, where they were happy and what they did like.

During that 60 minutes something else happened.  The team started identifying solutions and opportunities to improve the situation.  They focused on action. They created ways to make what was working go further.  They became productive.

Nothing had happened between the bitch session and the “what was working” session.  All the same problems were present.  All the same challenges were undermining efforts.  The only thing that changed was their angle of perspective, how they were viewing their environment.

When we focuse on what’s broken and what doesn’t work, we stew.   We sit and bitch. We don’t gravitate to solutions or improvements.  Inertia sits in.

When we focus on what IS working, we naturally move towards action.  We see opportunities.  We find paths.  We move.  Inertia is broken.

When things aren’t going as planned, try to change the angle of things.  The right angle matters.