Step INTO the Comfort Zone! Not out of it.

Do people need to get out of their comfort zone? Or would people be better off, if they stepped into their comfort zone? And started to describe what was wrong with it?

Own the problem

“I just need to do a bit more research before I reach out to them. So that I know what to ask, and to have informed questions”.

Is this something you have heard before? Or even said yourself? Then you are not alone. I have heard this more than 20 times during the last month from people in my network. It’s probably the most natural response to anything if you don’t know what you are talking about. But, there might be a better way than doing research alone, and instead, reach out to experts as soon as possible.

Because maybe the only expert you need to be, is an expert about the problem you want to solve. Leave the actual problem solving to experts. If you have it defined, you can peer review it and get all the people you want to solve it for you. You will learn much more in that process than just going at it yourself, and you’ll be doing the experts out there a favour, getting them to understand what problems need solving.

And think about what it would mean for you if the expert constantly wants you to step out of your comfort zone. That could mean that they don’t have a clue what they are talking about.

• Don’t go out of your comfort zone, get INTO the comfort zone!

• Own your problem. Get to know everything about the problem you have, and why it’s keeping you from what you want to do

• Understand where you want to be in x time, and again, what is keeping you from getting there

• If you have a corporate strategy, include that as a parameter to include for the experts

• How big is the problem? As in, who are the people involved, what are the systems involved, what roles are involved, and what does the process look like?

• Is it only you that want to solve this problem or someone else too?

• What is the urgency for getting it done?

• Do you have a budget for it, and what are the intended benefits for whom?

• Is the problem defined well enough so that you can ask around, get people to give their view on how to solve the problem for you?

FORGET about stepping out of your comfort zone and REMEMBER to get INTO your comfort zone. Once you have the problem defined, you can go around, shop for solutions, and play experts against each-other and learn a lot in the process.

- Are you/your customers asking experts when you know how to ask them in their way? Also, understanding the acronyms that come with the territory? Or is it more about defining problems and have problem solvers take a stab at it from their perspective? What would be the benefits of stepping into the comfort zone, instead of out of it?

Please leave a comment, and/or share this article if you have seen this behavior before!