Change the question; change perspective.

With a pile of work in front of you, or any job that needs doing, do you automatically ask, “How am I going to get all that done?”

In years of working with very different nonprofit leaders, I’ve noticed that’s a common response. It’s especially true among people who are givers at heart – you know, the ones who are quick to volunteer and give their time, or those who went into community benefit work because they’re innately programmed to help others.

Consider these three recent situations:

  • The executive director of a start-up nonprofit looked at everything that needed to be done, and said, “How can I do all this?”
  • The board chair of a mid-sized nonprofit, seeking new board members, asked, “How can I get people to serve on the board?”
  • The facilitator of an online community asked herself, “How can I get more people engaged?”

In each of these [real] scenarios, there is a common thread. In each case, the protagonist used the pronoun, “I.”

We all do this. From the person putting on the gala, to the volunteers in our house of worship, to the grantwriter, to the team leader, to the CEO and board chair. When we’re asked what we’re working on, we talk about a project and then say, “I have to…..,” and list all the things we have to do

Faced with everything we have to do we get a knot in our stomachs. Sometimes, it’s downright terrifying. The burden is on our shoulders, and if we don’t get it done, we’re letting down our clients, our coworkers, our fellow volunteers, ourselves.

Is that really true? Is it really all on our shoulders? What if we reframe the scenarios and ask a different question?

In the case of the start-up nonprofit, consider what changes if we ask,

“What would it take to get all this done?”

When the ED heard that reframe, it opened up a host of new opportunities. Instead of feeling alone with the job, he listed what would need to be in place for the job to get done, then objectively considered different ways to get them done – by anyone, not just himself. Instead of diving in, he started thinking of others who could make it happen.

For the board chair, we reframed the question from “how do I get people to be on the board?” to “what would it take for people to be able to join the board?” Instead of presenting the yes-no question to a prospect, the board chair started asking them, “what would it take for you to be able to say yes?” Potential board members started considering the possibilities, instead of the constrictions.

The facilitator of the online community completely reframed the engagement question. Instead, she invited all the participants of the community to online meetings in which she asked, “what would you like to be engaged in?” “What would you like to see and be part of?” “What would make it possible for people to be engaged?” With the different iterations of the reframing, the discussion became more dynamic, as participants saw themselves stepping into roles they may never have considered before.

What would it take to……?

This simple reframing moves the thought process away from burden and toward possibilities. It works for individuals, and for entire organizations.

The next time an opportunity arises, try moving from ‘we can’t do….’ to ‘what would it take for us to be able to do…..?’

Let me know what happens!

Or if you’d like to know more about facilitating these kinds of discussions.