Help Wanted

If your change is stuck behind a seemingly insurmountable obstacle and you’ve tried all the ways you can think of to get over, under and around the obstacle, here’s my advice: Stop trying.

Stop trying to climb the obstacle alone. Go looking for a guide.

If you had a plumbing problem in your house, and you knew nothing about plumbing, would you:

1. Check the yellow page under plumbers? Sadly there is no yellow book listing for the sort of guides you’re looking for. This blog is probably the closest thing you’ll find.

2. Research how to do the work yourself? Turning yourself into your own guide is an option, but it usually takes a while.

3. Just start hacking at your pipes? Isn’t that what you’ve likely been doing with the obstacle up until now? How well is that working for you?

4. Ask around for recommendations of who your friends called the last time they had a problem like this?

When you’re driving change and you’re stuck, stop trying to go it alone and start asking around for help.

Ask, “Who knows someone who gets energized by researching the tiniest details behind legislative and administrative policy?  I need that person today!”.

Find someone who sees your obstacle as the “get to” opportunity they’ve been looking for.  Network them into your team and set them free to succeed.

Although there’s a strong do-it-yourself movement, I, for one, believe that your choice is obvious when your choice is between toiling alone at something you can’t train yourself for fast enough and finding someone who knows your issue and enjoys resolving it.

Let the plumber do the plumbing.  Let the guide lead you over, under or through the obstacle. Then run the water and keep driving change.