How many times have you asked a team you are working with why they’ve given up looking for a solution to a problem, and they’ve said saying something like, “If we had the money to buy computer software X, we’d be able to fix problem Y. But since we don’t, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Once they’ve decided it’s a budget (or software) issue, they simply stop looking for other solutions at all. For me, this type of response is simply another in what I call the long list of ‘I can’ts’. And when I hear it, I challenge people to ‘use their creativity, not their money’, to come up with as many other possibilities as they can. In my experience, adding a ‘constraint’ to a situation, such as budget restrictions or tight deadline actually helps get our creative juices going! So, next time you’re in this situation as a coach, don’t give up, continue to challenge your team, and soon you will find that they’ve come up with an ‘effective’ and ‘cost-effective’ solution! And that’s good for everyone!
(Taiichi Ohno was right!!!)
