TBD 43: Stop slicing the bean.

Courtney Kaplan

Apr 27, 2022

TBD: To Be Determined

Welcome new subscribers! I’m Courtney Kaplan, a leadership coach and writer. TBD is my monthly round-up of all things coaching, making life changes that matter, leading with authenticity and building a good life. TBD stands for “to be determined”. Where and how we actualize our potential is being shaped in real-time by all of our choices, big and small. Let’s get to it, my dears!

Saddest moment in cartoon history.

When I get stuck in limited thinking, I remind myself: “Stop slicing the bean."

Donald Duck, Mickey and Goofy. Absolutely desolate. Slicing a single bean on a large platter as if it were a spiral cut bone-in ham. One small pinto bean on a plate.

It's the saddest moment in cartoon history.

“Stop slicing the bean” means we have to stop rehashing the same worn out solutions that aren’t really solutions. We need to stop compromising and start getting creative about how to get what we actually want. Often we have to have some faith that there’s more out there than one lousy bean.

It’s easy to convince ourselves “things are fine” or “we can manage” but slowly we compromise, overcommit and divide our time or resources into ever smaller buckets. We keep spreading ourselves soooo thin.

Instead, we need to generate more creative ideas and options by being specific in what we actually want and by being creative in how we actually make it happen.

First, get specific. Bake your ideal solution right into your question:

How might we uplevel everyone’s communication skills on our team in the next three weeks with no L&D budget?
How might we stay competitive and meet our hiring goals early in this hiring market even though we’re a small company with salaries and benefits that aren’t as lucrative as big tech?
How might I find more time for myself to do more needlepoint with a busy job and young kids?
How might we find a housesitter that will care for our pets, occupy our home, and keep up with things while we’re gone - for free?

Be open to a new solution. Sometimes we’re a little too attached to the bean.

Getting creative can start with asking questions:

What else is possible?
How might we….?
Who do we know that could help?
Ideally, what could we imagine happening?
What’s most important to take care of?
What step could we take to start?

Get out of your head and get into someone else’s head:

Try Reddit, FB groups, Nextdoor, LinkedIn, YouTube – if there’s a problem, someone else has also had that problem and has thought of some solutions.
Community groups work better than general Google search
Find someone who has gone through something similar and ask. I think most of us are willing to share what we learned the hard way in order to save someone else the trouble.
Commit to trying a few possible solutions as small experiments. Sometimes we dismiss ideas that are quite workable and relevant.

Ready to work with a coach?

Let's talk. I'm happy to chat with you about your goals, upcoming interviews, promotion plans and alternatives to bean slicing. You can set up a 30 minute chat here.

Energize Your Biz Summit

Join me on Monday, May 2, as I talk about Pandemic Pivots with a panel at the Energize Your Biz Summit. This is a week long summit (and it's free) - great for anyone starting their own venture and wondering how they might navigate some of the challenges they may face. It will be fun! Register here.