What to do if you're stuck on replay at work

Are you stuck on replay? Do you do the same things, the same way, over and over? It's easy to have this happen, and it's honestly what I fear most.

"Replay" can be somewhat effective if you're sticking to what works well. The problem is it can also create an autopilot state of mind that dulls your senses to changes around you -- like shifts in your marketplace, customer base or constituencies -- that require a new approach. It’s one thing to identify best practices and build on what works - it’s quite another to get too comfortable and call it in. Whole industries have fallen into habit only to be rendered irrelevant. You have to keep fine-tuning (or sometimes revolutionizing) what you do and how you do it.

The other problem with replay is it is reductionist. When you stick to the exact same approaches, you can't imagine another way. You become increasingly narrow in your thinking. You fail to learn. You start assuming there are no other options or different paths. So much for originality.

When I get stuck in replay, I've found four things that help. I thought I'd share them here.

1. Get another view into your organization. Call a customer and see how they're feeling. Talk to someone in line at your store or (if you're a nonprofit) your shelter or service center. Visit a front-lines staff member and ask them what’s new or different these days. Keep asking questions of people who have a different perspective on your work. I get so many good ideas from our customer service and success teams, for example.

2. Sign up for blogs, e-newsletters or other media that track big trends. I read a lot on mobile technology, the payments industry, social media and start ups so I can think about how broader trends might disrupt my work in exciting or concerning ways.

3. Go have lunch with a really smart person who doesn’t work at your organization. Ask them what they think of your company, organization or cause. Ask them how they faced challenges related to your own, in a different context. Brainstorm with them. I swear by this approach. Most of my ideas come from conversations with other people - rather than my own isolated mind.

4. Take an online course with a brilliant thinker. Via Coursera, I'm taking a course in behavioral economics at Duke (I'm way behind but enjoy the lectures nonetheless). A friend is taking a class in poetry. The possibilities are endless (and free). I also enjoy watching a TED talk. There’s nothing like fresh ideas outside your frame of reference to stimulate your own thinking.

This is how I avoid recycling the past or replaying the present. What do you do?

Photo via BigStockPhoto.

Rehmatullah Bugti

Senior Engineer Instrumentation & Control at Pakistan Petroleum Limited

9y

well, these wonderfull ideas may help us to diagnose and get fruitfull results.

Like
Reply
Jeff Lether

Technology Leader, Director at CGI

10y

Nice concise article with good tips, thanks for sharing. What do I do? Well, in addition to now applying these 4 excellent ideas ;-) I like to identify a different functional area, and then apply approaches or ideas from that area back to the original problem. For example, if facing an operational delivery problem, I'll ask if sales has ever dealt with a similar situation and what they did. Even if not directly applicable, I almost always find something I can use, and it definitely makes you consider things that aren't part of the standard playbook.

Like
Reply

It all depend on several factors, the organisation and the role, in some instances, if the organisation is small the work activity catalogue would be limited, on the otherhand if the organisation is large enough, changing roles would be more logical if the person is willing to expand their scope and career development prospects. being stuck in replay could be damaging in the long term for some, however, on the other hand we would expect the person to become subject matter expert in the field and is typical in a lot of trades/jobs like teaching, army and manufacturing/operational roles.

Like
Reply
Islam Shaliek, CEng, MIChemE

Process Leader - Sustainable Technology Solutions - Energy Transition (Renewables, Biofuels, Hydrogen, & CCUS)

10y

INDEED. I need to replay again. Nice to read this post.

Like
Reply

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Explore topics