The Red Boulder on the Tracks: Dealing with Barriers (Real or Imagined) in Your Path

You’re a train engineer. You’re at the controls of a locomotive when you suddenly see a large red boulder on the tracks ahead of you.

A situation pitched to an improv troupe by a particularly creative audience? Well … it could be. After all, performing improvisational theater is all about solving “problems” (i.e., incongruous situations) posed by audience members. The fun comes from watching the performers try to perform a scene that deals with the problem in a seamless way.

In this case, though, the “red boulder” scenario is a thought experiment I created to help prime people’s creative problem-solving juices, especially with respect to career planning. This activity can help people overcome those internal tape loops (“I’m too old,” “I’m a victim of circumstance,” “I can’t do anything about it,” etc.) that paralyze and disempower them.  The activity works like this:

I first pose the scenario described above while drawing on a flip chart a (decidedly rough) picture of a boulder on a set of railroad tracks. I then ask, “If you were the engineer, what options could you think of to deal with this situation?” People usually come up with the following:

·         Find (or build) a parallel track.

·         Ask other crew members and even passengers to help you move the boulder.

·         Grab a pick-axe and start chipping away at the boulder.

·         Stop the train and back up to where you started.

·         Just ram into it!

I then ask how all of this relates to career planning. At this point, most people see that the red boulder represents a barrier preventing them from moving ahead on their career path. They then can usually grasp the connections between their red-boulder options and their career-planning options:

·         The parallel track. If your planned career direction is blocked, look for another similar path that might get you to the same destination – even if it isn’t as direct or as quick.

·         Ask for help.  In your career planning, don’t feel that you have to go it alone. Be open to enlisting the help of others – managers, mentors, peers, friends, family members – to provide assistance, advice, and support.

·         Start chipping away. Begin taking small steps on a regular basis to begin removing the obstacle. You may not be able to overcome the barrier all at once, but taking steady action is better than making ready excuses.

·         Stop and back up. A barrier is insurmountable only if it’s bigger than your will to overcome it. If it feels too big to tackle, that might be a sign that you need to reconsider whether your chosen path is really in line with your inner desire. Even retrenching and starting again is better than just sitting there and cursing the rock.

·         Ram into it! If anyone proposes this (and they often do), I then ask “If you choose that option, what are you assuming about the boulder?” Answer: “That it really isn’t as solid as it looks!” I then observe that it might just be a big red balloon that could be flicked aside with little effort.  I then suggest that many of the barriers that we perceive on the path ahead might not be real barriers after all; they may just appear that way to us (and often just in our own minds). If we don’t test our assumptions about their true nature, though, we might sit immobilized for no good reason.  As the saying goes, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

REFLECTIONS FOR THE YES! LEADER

As you encounter your own (supposed) barriers on your career journey, do you keep your mind open to multiple strategies for dealing with them? Are you improvising “scenes” that creatively deal with the (supposed) incongruities you’re facing? Have you considered some of the following ways to regard and deal with some of the common (supposed) problems in your career development?

·         “I’m too old.” -  What are some examples of other people your age who succeeded in a similar situation? How can you connect with others of your generation to lend each other support and advice? What unique value can your experience and perspective provide?

·         “I don’t have enough education.” – What education do you need? What can you do short of entering full-time study (e.g., taking a community college class, doing self-study) in order to start working toward a degree or certification?

·         “There aren’t any promotion opportunities in my area.” – First, what will a promotion provide to you? What other options – a lateral move, special projects, service in a professional organization outside of work – might help you develop key skills and contacts to put you in a good position for the next promotion opportunity that does come available?