FEATURE ARTICLE

Getting Un-Stuck: The Blue Ocean Formula

by Jacob Nordby

 Have you ever ended a week–or a month or year…or a decade–and thought, “…I must be living in my own real-life version of Groundhog Day”?  You know, the kind of deal where every day looks exactly like the one before and there’s no reason to believe that things will be any different tomorrow.

That’s no fun to imagine and it’s even less inspiring when it feels suspiciously like the life we’re living “for reals” (yes, I have twin ten-year-olds, so I hear myself say things like for reals and wow a lot).  The truth is, each of us has a secret vision for an irresponsibly grand life.  We know that we have good stuff in us.  We surprise ourselves with flashes of insight.  We have these talents all wrapped safely in inertia-cloth and tucked in some dark corner where no one is likely to notice them.  In our private moments we suspect that we’re pretty, pretty…pretty amazing.  Then, like a school kid roused from a delicious daydream by a knuckle-smacking teacher, our face flushes and we jerk ourselves back into a reality so gray and same that we can hardly bear it.

Of course, you’re not like this.  You are 100% effective in every area of your life–you feel great, your latest book is a best-seller, your dog just won top honors for Most Creative Mutt, and Oprah calls you every couple of weeks asking for advice.  But, why don’t you read the rest of this article just in case you have a friend who lives in Stuckberg. Who knows?  Maybe you could forward this to them and it will help a little.

Several years ago I read a popular business book titled, “The Blue Ocean Strategy”.  The authors had studied companies who had figured out how to leave behind the bloody, red waters of their competitive marketplace and create an unlimited blue ocean for themselves.  In this new space, they no longer played by the accepted rules of their competitors.  Instead they changed the game so much that their customers couldn’t help but see them in a completely different way.  In other words, they got un-stuck.  How did they do it?

The authors identified several companies which had used a similar strategy to move their focus–and their market–away from an old way of doing things.  Basically, in each case, the company’s leaders had lined up with their competitors’ offerings and made three decisions

  1. More: what services were the competitors offering that they would increase (sometimes dramatically)?
  2. Less: what was the competition doing that they would reduce?
  3. Cut Out Altogether: what would they eliminate altogether?

Now, we’ve been looking at a business example, but this simple formula can be applied to anyplace we’re stuck in life.  On the personal, inner level this isn’t a matter of comparing ourselves to other people.  Instead, when we’re feeling isolated, angry, depressed, frustrated or otherwise desolate, we are given the opportunity to ask ourselves what important message is trying to be heard.  It’s easy to label these “negative” emotions and try to do anything to get rid of them, but in my experience they are just the inner voice saying it’s time to move in a new direction.

You want to make this practical?  Okay, pick some tangled area of your life (maybe something as benign as a garage full of junk).  Anything sticking out for you right away?

Now think about it.  Why haven’t you done anything about this yet?  In most cases, on a rational level we know that changing is pretty simple.  Want to lose weight?  Sure.  Eat less, exercise more.  Bingo.  But there are reasons and factors why the shortcut answer hasn’t worked, aren’t there?

So apply the Blue Ocean formula.  Ask yourself, “What am I willing to do more of to see this stuck pattern disappear?  What am I willing to do less?  (and here comes the big one) What am I willing to cut out altogether?”  I’m not suggesting that this is a magic wand, but I know for sure that working through this process opens our eyes to hidden resistances and obvious solutions which have been sitting there all along.  Once we pull the gremlins (old beliefs, wounds and thought patterns) out from under the bed and let them have their say in broad daylight, we’ve made a huge step toward healthy action.

What are you trying to change, get rid of, forgive or release right now?  Are you willing to share with the friends on our Facebook page?  I have many wise, compassionate folks in the mix who can offer support and ideas.  Come on over and meet them (no, you don’t have to volunteer any of your dark, private secrets–just come hang out with us).  Laugh and be inspired.

 

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