How to Mine the Past to Solve Current Problems

If you're running a team, maintaining your composure is your single most important skill. The slowest heart rate in the room runs the room. I help leaders manage their triggers so they run their teams more effectively.

In the last Mindset Mastery Memo, I shared the best opening question you can ask an employee who's struggling with a problem: "What have you tried?"

It's great for a bunch of reasons, not least of which is that it can keep you from offering annoying suggestions that they've already tried.

It's non-judgmental, which can help your employee from tipping into defensiveness (never a good place from which to solve problems, unless the problem is you're being attacked by something with large teeth or a heavy weapon).

“What Have You Tried” Follow-Ups

Today I want to talk briefly about how to direct the conversation after you've asked that question and they've started coming up with answers.

They might say, "I haven't tried anything yet."

You can respond with glee: "That's awesome — that means you have a whole world of possibilities to explore."

They might tell you about something that didn't work.

You can follow up with: "What do you think was missing in that approach? What did you learn from that?"

They might tell you about something that sort of worked.

You can inquire: "What about that did work? What part felt like it was on the right track?"

They might even remember approaches that totally worked, and that they've abandoned for whatever reason.

You can usually just sit in beatific silence and wait for them to sheepishly say, "I guess I could just go back to doing that."

Exploring Patterns of Stuckness

You can also help them mine past experiences to focus on their strengths and availability of external resources: "What strengths of yours have you brought to bear on this problem in the past? What people or other external resources did you turn to?"

And you can invert the questions: "What strengths of yours haven't you brought to the table here? What people or other external resources might be helpful?"

Finally, you can guide them to look for patterns of thought and behavior that have been limiting them or keeping them stuck. You might repeat back what you've heard: "So you tried A, B, and C — and none of them gave you long-term results you wanted. Do those three approaches have anything in common? Is there a common assumption you made that you might revise or even reverse?"

Make sure to keep your tone engaged and curious. You're being a scientist, helping your employee sift through some rich data. There's no right or wrong, good or bad — just information, and what you can learn from it to set up the next hypothesis to inform the next experiment.

If you'd like to discover how to bring out the best in your people, let's talk.