Trending
In college, my friend Gaby would watch Billy Blanks do Tae Bo workouts while she munched popcorn on the couch. For Gaby, the workouts were entertainment. For me? Inspiration.
Fitness, in that season of my life, felt like a distant dream. Aspirational but not achievable. Until I heard a story of a man who lost 100 pounds. Not by losing 100 pounds. But by losing 1 pound.100 times.
That was the reframe I needed.
One day I tried Tae Bo. For 5 minutes. Years later, fitness is a serious part of my identity. It was a slow climb – not a big leap. It was 1 pound lost 100 times.
This is the alchemy we need.
When we avoid asking our teams what they need more - for fear of not being able to deliver on the ask…then we need to reframe.
Here’s how we manage it during Pulse Checks (and what we teach during Bootcamps).
We ask a team – what holds you back, or what would fuel your ability to better deliver, develop connect and thrive?
Their answer is often the 100-lb wish. The thing near-impossible to deliver on.
The magic is in the probing – to get to the 1-lb action that creates momentum.
In a recent Pulse Check for a hospital…
Their presenting challenge was overwhelm and burnout – particularly among nurses.
In the face of national nursing shortages, administration was afraid to ask what their nurses needed. Because the 100-lb answer was – more nurses!
But when we got to probe a bit deeper – to understand what some easy wins might be? We pulled out some ideas administrators were able to implement – simply and with much success – within the week.
Ideas like…
- Creating a literal bathroom schedule, ensuring each nurse – overworked though they may be – could manage their bodily functions without anxiety. A little bit of (literal) relief goes a long way.
- Standardizing how the nursing carts are stocked. So when nurses are asked to move to different units, they didn’t have to waste time trying to find basic supplies.
- Standardizing physician contact methods. While some doctors prefer to be paged, others called on their mobiles, others through their own staff…this creates extra work for nurses. A simple protocol went along way.
In being willing to listen. To understand the most critical pain points and infuse just a bit of relief at a time into the system, we earn trust – we show we care and we’re listening, and we begin to dial up Activation.
Truly it’s a win win. If you’re willing to think small.
Need more ideas? Check out this case study.