Navigating "Impossible Situations"

Planning the Ascent

Have you recently been told “it can’t happen here”?  Or possibly it’s frequent correlate of “you will learn”?  I recently met with a resident who is moving forward a very innovative educational idea.  We discussed the phenomenon where enthusiasm can be mistaken for naiveté.  There are very real institutional barriers to overcome with almost any project worth doing, but there are also concrete strategies.

Here are Some Tips for Navigating “Impossible Situations”:

• Find Advocates – These Are People With Relevant Knowledge and a Willingness to Say They Support You Out loud

• Come Prepared – Know the Most Information of Anyone in the Room and Have a Source for Every Statement

• Bring Examples – Show them Places Where Your Project or Aspects of It are Being Done Well

• **When Told No -> Ask to be Shown Why Not!

The last one is the big one.  For every obstacle, ask to be shown a detailed written list of why it can’t happen.  For example, if a project can’t meet a deadline, ask to see each place where the time can slow you up and then look for workarounds.  There is often a process in large painful meetings that makes it seem as though obstacles are all over the place – usually at least 10.  When asked to write them down, due to clumping and clarification, this list often goes down to a number closer to 5.  Then all you have to do is figure out who is in charge of those 5 things and get direct information from them.  At this point, you can work around or adjust your plan as needed.

After we achieve clarity over the obstacles, the next phenomenon starts to happen.   Soon what “they” said couldn’t be done – suddenly can’t be stopped.