Last week, I had a minor setback.  I made the decision to literally shelve the book I have been writing for the last six months.  I say shelve, as I know I will return to it, however, now is not the right time for that book.  With a looming deadline to my editor (40 days to go) I made the decision to write the book that my heart really wants to write now and quickly shift to plan B.  Why?  In my experience writing can’t be forced. When I’m writing and, in the zone, or flow (thanks Mihály Csíkszentmihályi) it feels effortless, joyful, and ultimately, I know that although tough, this decision will make it a better book once it’s ready to be written.

Professional setbacks, like any, really can be hard to digest.  Fears surface, confidence drops, and sometimes we may even wonder what we are doing here (insert role, job, stage of life)?!  Sometimes setbacks are big, and weeks in the making.  We can see them looming and we have an opportunity to prepare.  We can think about our next steps, who this impacts, and how we can mitigate the impact.  For other setbacks, they come fast, without warning, leaving us feeling like we are on uneven ground. 

Whether it is a setback we can prepare for or one that catches us by surprise, my flip it 5:1 strategy has been able to help me quickly recover and get back on track. I started using this tool when I was working with teams on building resilience.  I now use this frequently through my leadership development programs so leaders can use it within their teams.

The way it works is quite simple:

5 opportunities: 1 setback

For every setback you or your team face, you come up with five opportunities as a result of that setback.

At first, it will be annoying.  When we experience a setback, there is a period of adjusting to the change and experiencing the range of emotions that come with that.   The time this takes is unknown and dependent on the type of setback and our preparedness to embrace any upside.  The more you challenge yourself and your team to do this, the easier it becomes.  Our brains have a brilliant ability to reorganise established patterns of thinking by forming new neural pathways based on our responses to experiences.  You can develop the capability to do this, as can your team.

You might want to start with something simple.  Someone in the team loses a document they have been working on.  Five opportunities:

1. A fresh approach to the issue
2. Ability to collaborate and consult with others on the issue you were working on
3. Take a step back in relation to the approach being exercised in creating the document
4. Reconsider the communication approach – what kind of document should be created to communicate?
5. Reminder to everyone about storing documents in the cloud and not on your local computer

Is this an ideal scenario?  Maybe not, but the opportunities that can arise as a result, would not have been explored had the setback not occurred.

Consistently applying the flip it five to one technique will have you and your team bouncing back much quicker following setbacks, and a whole bunch of new ideas and approaches will be identified in the process.

Rita Cincotta coaches, facilitates and speaks on individual and team performance, leadership development and ways of working. She works with organisations to develop human centred solutions that help people and businesses to thrive.