Today at church E, the past board president gave a sermon on his lessons from the past 2 years as board president. One lesson he mentioned today is another one that has stuck with me. When you are about to do something, or are afraid of proceeding, ask yourself "What is the worst that could happen?" This question is one I use a lot coaching others. It often breaks a log jam in someone's decision making, or in their process around a complicated decision, or a tough personnel issue. I use this a lot in coaching others, but I am not sure I use it with myself. As an HR person, we tend to ask this during a reduction in force, or another difficult HR process.
I learned this technique first, from one of my great managers at Polaroid. I was about to go present to the President and his staff. I had never presented to that level before. H asked me "What is the worst that could happen?" I answered, "They would think I was stupid." H paused and then asked me "Has that ever happened to you before?" I was dumb founded, thought for a minute and then said "No!" He had confidence in me at that point that I did not have, but this simple technique allowed me to go ace the presentation to the Senior Staff.
E's reminder today was a good one. As I have said before "When the student is ready the teacher appears."
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