Are you “blocked”?

This week’s post comes to you courtesy of “writer’s block”. I try to draw inspiration from everywhere some human resources related, some business related or some from questions from clients and friends. It appears lately all is working well – which is to be celebrated, after all that is my goal.

So what do I mean? It occurred to me that in dealing with people we can become “blocked”. Think about that one difficult employee that you know can be redeemed…you can feel it in your bones, they show signs of promise (just not consistently), you have had great conversations about what is expected and you see the “light bulb” appear over their head. Unfortunately, after trying various techniques to turn the person around, no consistent improvement is seen and you become “blocked” on how to fix it.  We have all been there, experienced the frustration, wondered why they aren’t improving and ready to throw in the towel.

DON’T!

At least not yet.  While I usually advocate handling issues quickly before they become bigger than necessary (think snowball rolling down a hill).  This time my recommendation is to step away, do something else, don’t think about, and distract yourself the best way you know how.

Why?

Just like writer’s block, the more you think about it, the more intimidating the page becomes and the less likely you will be to come up with a topic.  This is the same case.  The more you think about – the angrier you will get, your interest in finding a solution will disappear and you may make a drastic decision.

You need to step away. The time you spend away from the situation can make the solution clear.  The solution can be to continue on the same path, give it one last effort or realize that possibly the situation will not change.  Only you can determine what will need to be done.

Please share your stories of how you “unblocked” yourself.