Make a Different Offer

I was working as a software engineer on a medical device project a few years ago. The project was struggling. One day, the project manager asked our group “How can we be more efficient?”

That’s a reasonable question. As an aside, sometimes people in the Theory of Constraints (TOC) world bristle at such a question, because it suggests a certain mindset which is about as opposite to the central thesis of TOC as is possible. I noticed the wording too, but taking a detour over the issue of “Do you want to be efficient or do you want to be effective?” would not have been helpful.

So I answered as follows: “Do the right things, in the right order, and at the right time.”

As simple and obvious as this sounds, what I experience on most projects is practically the opposite: Doing the wrong things, in a damaging sequence, and at the worst possible time.

Let’s assume your company is going to start a new project, a medical device of some kind, maybe an infusion pump.

One approach would be to try to get to implementing something as quickly as possible. This is akin to saying “I would like to put an addition on my house” and immediately heading off to the local home center to buy 2x4s, plywood sheathing and nails. The project to build the addition will go off the rails very quickly.

I would say you almost cannot spend too much time in the “fuzzy front end” of a project. This is the time where the work is really understanding the requirements of the product to be created.

There are, of course, forces that work against spending a lot of time understanding product requirements, contemplating different approaches that could be taken, evaluating models and spreadsheets, etc.

One of the forces is that in many companies (perhaps most) there is no real product development pipeline. There are different groups within the product development organization: A product definition team, often a technical marketing group, engineering groups such as electrical, firmware, mechanical, manufacturing, etc. In many industries, there are also regulatory affairs experts.

It’s the frequent lack of synchronization between these groups that causes me to say there is no pipeline. In organizations, it’s simply never acceptable for various groups to be idle. And yet, if the product requirements haven’t really been nailed down, there is little point in having electrical engineers trying to layout circuit boards, or having firmware engineers trying to write firmware for electronic circuits that don’t even exist yet.

  1. The article is for people doing product development projects.

  2. My credential is 28 years in business for myself selling software engineering services.

  3. Project outcomes: A few resounding successes, a fat center of unremarkbale outcomes, and a longer tail of poor outcomes.

  4. This article is about setting your project up for success, and what can stop you from doing this.

  5. What can stop you? Your relationship with your client or sponsor is not managed so that it creates the results you want.

  6. My focus becomes “Being of service to others” rather than “Being seen as the smartest guy in the room.” Maybe I need to be seen as the dumbest guy in the room, because I ask the questions other people are too smart to ask.

  7. How do I “be of service to others” on the current project?

What’s a Reframe?

Let’s start with an understanding of what is meant by a reframe.

A “reframe” is a cognitive and communicative technique used to change the way a situation, experience, or concept is viewed or interpreted. The goal is often to shift perspective from a negative or unhelpful viewpoint to one that is more positive or constructive. Reframing can be applied in various contexts, such as problem-solving, emotional regulation, and interpersonal communication.

For example, if someone views a failed project as a “waste of time,” a reframe might be to see it as a “learning experience” that provides valuable insights for future endeavors. By changing the way the situation is perceived, the emotional impact and subsequent actions can also change, often for the better.

Reframing is commonly used in psychology, particularly in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), as well as in coaching, negotiation, and conflict resolution. It’s a versatile tool that can help individuals and groups overcome challenges, resolve disagreements, and foster a more positive outlook.

My Old Frame

For most of my life my old frame went like this:

“I can be harmed by the things that happen to me. People can hurt me if I’m not careful, so I need to be on guard for those situations.

I also have to manage my image, both personal and professional. I have to act a certain way, dress appropriately, drive the right kind of car (actually, I drive a pickup truck, but you get the point), and say the right kinds of things.

I also felt very attached to people and things, because hey, if I don’t get what I want from life, I could wind up feeling like a failure later on. So, I constantly worried about my security, tried to avoid conflict, and tried to grasp at the things that I thought would make me happy.

I expect you can see how the idea that I could be harmed by things that might happen to me set me up for all kinds of fear, worry and defensive behaviors. The fear also made it more difficult for me to let other people get close to me and for me to get close to them.

Bottom line, fear is one of those emotions that has about a million different ways of showing up in your life and causing damage.

My New Frame

My new frame, which I didn’t come to immediately, is “I cannot be harmed by anything that happens to me.”

Pretty bold statement, I know. You might be thinking “Yeah, right.” Nevertheless, this is my deep belief, and it’s had a profound effect on my life.

If you’re a Theory of Constraints geek like I am, you might notice how the new frame is essentially a perfect inversion of my old frame. How often, when we use the TOC Thinking Processes, do we take an assumption we want to challenge and completely invert it, as I did here? I do it all the time. Have a negative that’s bugging you? Invert it and then figure out how to make it your reality. Trim the wings of that flying pig!

In reality, a reframe doesn’t absolutely have to be true to be useful. So if you find this reframe hard to accept, you can still try it on for size.

People sometimes make fun of “Daily Affirmations,” as if they are some kind of feel-good psychobabble. I have found something different: When I use them diligently, they work, and I can feel the difference.

Now I do in fact believe I cannot be harmed by anything that happens to me. I cannot explain that here. I have invested years of thought in forming my conclusions, and no one can necessarily reproduce my exact steps. You can of course take your own, and if this kind of stuff interests you, please do. Just know that you don’t have to be able to prove the reframe literally true to benefit from it.

Consider standing in front of your bathroom mirror once a day for five days. Repeat the reframe slowly and meaningfully ten times or so. Give yourself a few minutes to do this. It might feel odd at first, but just do it. No one is going to know!

Resources

I do want to give you a few options that you can check out if you want to know more. If you grab onto any of these threads and start chasing them down, you’ll be led to more material than you can read in a lifetime.

One option is a get a copy of a recently published new book, “Beyond Illusion” by Katrijn Van Oudheusden. You can find it on Amazon. The book is about seeing through what is called the self-illusion, and if you can do that, you’ll learn more about (in my view) why the reframe I have offered here is credible. But know that conceptual knowledge alone (what the book provides) is helpful for many people, but unlikely to be fully sufficient.

If you really want to dig into the science of all, this I can’t say enough good things about the work of Dr. Robert Sapolsky. He has a new book coming out: “Determined: The Science of Life Without Free Will.”

I like the work of some of the spiritual teachers like Rupert Spira, Francis Lucille and John Klein. Again, there’s no shortage of good resources here.

Finally, if this interests you and you’d like to talk more about it, please reach out. We can have some great discussions and I’d enjoy talking with you.