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Pre-read week 7-8, 12
Pre-read before session week 7
What is this week’s tool?
This week, we will focus on taking action to change our emotions and thoughts. We will attempt to be brave, creative, and motivated to try new things and reflect on our journey.
We will introduce two very similar tools from CBT: exposure and behavioral experiments.
These tools were originally designed to have slightly different goals and applications. Behavioral experiments are mostly intended to change your conscious thoughts and beliefs, whereas exposure is intended to change your automatic emotional and physical reactions. Behavioral experiments can address a variety of beliefs, but exposure is mostly for targeting sources of fear or anxiety, and sometimes of disgust.
However, in practice, these tools can overlap so heavily that we have combined them into one. Often, when one is performing a behavioral experiment, one is also exposing oneself to an uncomfortable stimulus and becoming more comfortable with it. And when one is practicing exposure, one is also testing and updating one’s negative beliefs about what will happen.
In the end, trying anything new is explorative as well as exposing, scary as well as exciting, and often the right way forward, especially when more of the same and past behaviors haven’t reached a goal or solved an issue sufficiently.
Note:
Because these tools are so effective, we think that everyone should be familiar with them. In fact, exposure is probably the most important ingredient in the treatment of anxiety and related disorders: phobias, PTSD, OCD, social anxiety, panic disorder, and so on. However, if you believe you might have or have been diagnosed with one of these disorders, please consider working with a professional for at least a few sessions before trying these tools on your own. We want you to be able to receive more intensive instruction in order to plan your exposure, as well as one-on-one support in the event that you find any of these practices overwhelming or disruptive.
Why use this tool?
Most of us engage in some form of avoidance that interferes with our wellbeing and our goals. There are lots of reasons why we might avoid activities or situations that we value or that would make our lives better.
We might experience negative emotional reactions to the activity or situation, e.g.,
Or we might have negative beliefs about what will happen, e.g., “It won’t help anyway, so why bother?”
Often, we avoid because of a combination of negative emotions and beliefs, e.g.,
There are three main ways we might engage in avoidance.
1.Situational avoidance, where we stay away from the activity or situation, or prevent it from happening (e.g., procrastination);
1.Emotional avoidance, where, once exposed to the situation/activity, we numb or distract ourselves (e.g., numbing out with food, substances, video games, etc., or distraction, like only being in public while listening to a podcast/music)
1.Using “safety behaviors,” where we do things that we believe will prevent bad things from happening, e.g.,
The Avoidance Cycle
Negative emotions Negative predictions
No updating of beliefs or emotions
Avoidance
Unfortunately, when we avoid, it prevents our emotions and beliefs from changing. We never get new information that could be used to update our mind’s or body’s predictions about what will happen in this type of situation/activity.
We never develop confidence and a sense of agency over the situation/activity. This keeps us stuck in a cycle of avoidance.
1. What situations or activities do you tend to avoid? Try to identify a few related to your goals for this
program.
2. What are your avoidance or safety behaviors? What are you trying to stop from happening by using them?
3. How do these avoidance or safety behaviors get in the way of your wellbeing or living in alignment with your goals?
In contrast, deliberately and repeatedly approaching the things we’ve avoided gives us an opportunity for a corrective experience. We learn whether our negative beliefs are warranted, and our bodies and minds gradually develop a sense of safety and mastery over anxiety-inducing situations or activities until we are able to approach them with much less discomfort, or even none at all. This change — this newfound ability to approach the things we’ve previously avoided — can give us a great sense of freedom and power and help us do the things we care about to help ourselves or others.
4. How might your life change for the better — and how might you get closer to achieving your goals for this program — if you were able to conquer your negative beliefs/discomfort and stop avoiding anxiety-inducing situations/activities?
How do I use this tool?
Preparation
1.Select an appropriate target situation/activity for your practice. The target should meet the following criteria:
a.It’s avoided: The situation/activity is something that you avoid, whether because it creates an unpleasant emotional reaction or because you have a negative prediction about it.
b.It’s important to you: Being able to conquer your avoidance, negative beliefs, or strong emotional responses would improve your life or serve your values. For example, being comfortable making phone calls could make your life more convenient or help you succeed in certain jobs. In contrast, if you are deathly afraid of chinchillas, but avoiding chinchillas doesn’t get in the way of your life, then there’s not really a problem to solve.
c.It’s maladaptive: Don’t try to change emotional reactions or beliefs that are reasonable or helpful! In
other words, don’t do exposure with things that are objectively dangerous, like walking alone in a foreign
city at night or leaving candles burning unattended, or to test reasonable and healthy beliefs such as “If I drive when just a little bit tipsy, I’ll get pulled over or have an accident,” or “If I am cruel to my partner, they’ll leave me.”
Here are a few examples of things that people experiencing various types of issues commonly avoid, as well as some testable beliefs they might hold:
Anxiety/fear
Procrastination
Perfectionism
12Be sure not to confuse the feared/avoided stimuli with whatever caused you to be uncomfortable with them in the first place. It is reasonable to be afraid of an ex-partner who abused you, but if you are now triggered by things that aren’t objectively dangerous, like people who physically resemble your ex or being emotionally vulnerable, those non-dangerous stimuli might be a good target for exposure.
Again, we suggest that for your home practice you target a mild, “non-clinical” source of discomfort so that you can learn how it works. Please seek professional guidance for addressing mental health challenges, or if you have a history of panic attacks, dissociation, or other strong reactions to triggers. Exposure can still be safe and appropriate for people with these conditions — in fact, it is an ideal tool for treating some of these conditions!— but should be done with the supervision of a mental health professional.
2. Create an “exposure hierarchy of”: A ladder of avoidances you can face.
a.Brainstorm your list of possible avoided activities/situations, aiming for ~7 to 12. Include only things you can actually try, and don’t put objectively dangerous situations on your hierarchy.
b.Make sure that there are a few activities that seem easy and approachable, and a few that are very hard — ones that would represent you having fully conquered your discomfort or negative beliefs. One way to achieve some variation in intensity is to come up with versions of avoidances that do and do not include safety behaviors (e.g., going with a friend vs. going alone).
c.Organize the activities from least to most challenging. Set one of the hard ones as your ultimate goal. d.Rate each one on a 0-100 scale based on the discomfort you would feel in that situation. These 0-100
ratings are called SUDS, which stands for “subjective units of distress.” This might be less relevant for some kinds of experiments (i.e. if you don’t find the situation distressing), but it’s still interesting data to collect — you might learn something surprising.
In the traditional teaching, behavioral experiments don’t usually use a full hierarchy; the idea is that just one or two experiments can change your belief. And that might be true; however, we all know that repeated practice is the best way to truly update your neurons, so we expect the use of a hierarchy to make this practice more effective, whether you’re trying to change an emotional reaction or a belief.
Here’s an example hierarchy for someone with social anxiety at work.
Start drafting your hierarchy now, before the group session. Make sure there is at least one low-intensity, 5- 10 minute activity you can try during this week’s group session, such as looking at a picture or watching a video of something that scares you, touching something unpleasant in your household, or starting an avoided task
Conducting the exposure/experiment
Schedule several sessions throughout your week, ideally one every day. Avoidance tends to take hold again if we take breaks that are too long between sessions. Start by scheduling an activity from the bottom of your hierarchy – something that sounds mildly challenging, but still manageable.
Activity
SUDS 0-100
Ask a coworker a question about how to complete a task.
20
Make small talk with a coworker about their weekend for 5 minutes.
25
Share my opinion in a small team meeting.
25
Eat lunch in the staff room by myself for 30 minutes.
35
Ask to eat lunch in the staff room with a coworker.
50
Ask a question or give an opinion in front of the whole company.
50
Give a 15-minute presentation to my seven-person team.
70
Ask a coworker to get coffee after work.
75
Go to a staff party, stay for an hour, and talk to at least 5 people.
90
Final Goal: Give a 15 minute presentation in front of the whole company.
90
For each scheduled exposure/experiment:
1. Before: Fill out your pre-exposure/experiment log with the intended activity, the SUDS you feel before starting, your negative belief about the activity (what you’re most worried will happen), and how true that negative belief feels.
a. It is important to specify the thought, and how strongly you believe it, before you set out to test it. Otherwise, afterwards, you might succumb to “hindsight bias” and tell yourself that you already knew what was going to happen.
b. Additionally, planning where, when, and what you will do, and how you’ll overcome obstacles, can help increase your commitment to doing the exposure/experiment and reduce discomfort and further avoidance — though some discomfort will probably still be present!
c. Plan to stay in the situation as long as is needed to disconfirm your negative belief or fear. This duration might vary, depending on the nature of your concern.
i.For example, if you’re worried that your anxiety will build over the course of an hour in the avoided situation until you have a panic attack, stay in the situation for an hour. Especially for feelings of fear, it is often recommended that you stay in the situation until your SUDS starts to go down noticeably, though some research suggests this decrease in SUDS may not be necessary if you still stay in the situation for a long time.
ii.On the other hand, if you’re worried that someone will make fun of you for making a mistake in a social interaction, a 5-minute conversation might be all that is necessary to disconfirm your belief. If the situation is very short, or if it might be over before it disconfirms your fears, plan to repeat the situation multiple times within one exposure session.
2. During: Spend the full planned amount of time exposing yourself to the situation/activity.
IMPORTANT: Don’t escape or avoid the situation when your distress is at its most intense, or else you will be training yourself to engage in more avoidance! Ride the wave! Stay mentally and emotionally present. This is a good time to use your mindfulness of emotion skills.
3. After: When the session is over, congratulate yourself! Then fill out your post-exposure/experiment log, where you’ll record your final SUDS and process how your experience disconfirmed your expectations.
a.Do not skip this! This is an essential step! Your exposures/experiments will be much more effective if you engage in “processing” afterwards – that is, if you reflect in a structured way, taking time to compare your prediction with what happened so that you can identify any mismatches in your original beliefs. Reflection is a way to “stretch” after giving your neural pathways a workout during the exposure/experiment by updating their connections and strengthening new insights about reality. The more you reflect on what actually happened and the ways it differed from your expectations, the more benefit you will receive from each exposure/experiment.
b. When reflecting on what happened and generating a new belief, be mindful of your interpretation of the events. Stick with the facts and don’t jump to conclusions! For example, if you test a depression-related belief that you are no longer capable of enjoying your old hobbies by trying to play board games for the first time in a while, you might indeed find that you enjoy it less than you used to. You might think, “Oh, no! Maybe it’s true! I can’t enjoy any of my old hobbies.” But this reactive belief is not supported by the data. Instead, stick to the facts and say, “I didn’t enjoy this particular activity as much as I used to, but I did enjoy it a little bit before I started to feel self-conscious about my skill/recall. And one game night is not a thorough test of my hypothesis that I can never enjoy any of my old hobbies again.”
4. Repeat: Do the same activity (the same row in the hierarchy) until you achieve noticeable changes in your beliefs or your SUDS. A good signal that it’s time to move on is when the situation/activity becomes boring. Then, move to the next rung in the hierarchy. Continue until you reach the top of the hierarchy (your final goal).
13After several exposures with the same stimulus, your SUDS for that stimulus will likely start to go down. But even if your distress doesn't decrease for a while, keep in mind that feeling less distressed isn't the only thing we care about in exposure. Exposure is also a chance to increase willingness to feel uncomfortable feelings, effective behavior when you're uncomfortable, and “emotional self-efficacy”—being able to trust that you can be okay doing emotionally difficult things! When you notice some of these changes, you can then move up to the next stimulus.
Here are example pre- and post-exposure logs for the person with social anxiety at work.
Pre-exposure/experiment log
1.What are you going to do for your exposure/experiment? Be very specific.
Activity: Make small talk with a coworker about their weekend for 5 minutes
When: Tuesday before team meeting
What: Go to the office kitchen and ask someone what they did over the weekend and respond based on what they say
How long: At least 5 minutes
2. What might get in the way of your exposure/experiment? What will you do if that obstacle arises?
I might be too busy to do it before the meeting → Go after the meeting, or early on Wednesday morning There might be no one in the kitchen at that time → Same solution as above
3. Starting SUDS (0-100):
30
4. What do you worry is going to happen? In other words, what negative belief do you have about this activity?
There will be an awkward pause in the conversation, and then I’ll freeze up and won’t be able to talk, and they’ll look at me like I’m crazy and walk away.
5. How likely do you feel this negative outcome is? In other words, how much do you believe that thought? Choose a number 0-100%.
60% (I know it’s not that realistic, but it “feels” more true than not!)
Post-exposure/experiment log 1.Ending SUDS (0-100):
20
2. Did your worry/negative belief come true? Y or [N]
3. If not, what evidence do you have that it didn’t come true?
There was an awkward pause, but I didn’t freeze up. I thought of something to say. Also, during some pauses, she filled the silence. We kept chatting until the meeting started and she acted friendly the whole time.
4. How much do you believe your original worry/negative thought now? Choose a number 0-100%
40%
5. How would you change your belief to account for the new learning?
(1) I don’t always freeze up — plus, other people help keep the conversation going too, so it’s not just my responsibility.
(2) Some people seem to like talking to me.
6. How much do you believe this new thought? Choose a number 0-100%.
(1) 80% (2) 50%
Wellbeing Tip:
We understand that, at times, other responsibilities can become overwhelming, leaving little time for in-depth work on experiments or exposures. If this is the case for you this week, we suggest two things:
Use the 5-Minute Rule: This simple yet effective tool can help you get started, especially with tasks you may be procrastinating or avoiding. Choose one task you've been putting off, even if it typically takes longer (e.g., writing a report). Set a timer for just five minutes and focus solely on starting the task. When the time is up, you can stop — though you may find it easier to continue now that you’ve already begun.
Revisit Experiments/Exposures Later: If you're unable to complete everything now, you can return to these exercises after Week 8 until Week 12.
Don’t expose yourself to anything with high risk of harm. For example, if you’re afraid of fire, you could practice lighting candles, but don’t play with gasoline. It might be hard for you to judge whether something you’ve been avoiding is “safe enough” on your own. It could be helpful to ask for a second opinion from someone who doesn’t have the same triggers as you, such as a peer in this program. You can ask that person to help you evaluate if it is reasonable for you to continue avoiding something, or if you may benefit from learning to confront it. It might also be helpful to think about whether the stimulus can cause you any physical harm, and if so, how the risk of physical harm compares to other things that most people are willing to do despite carrying some risk (i.e. driving a car, playing sports, etc.)
Eliminate safety behaviors as soon as you can, especially if you feel they are preventing “bad” outcomes. These safety behaviors can impede learning: when nothing bad happens, your brain might attribute it to the safety behavior, not to the situation being safe. Therefore, it’s ideal to stop all your safety behaviors right away. However, if you need to use safety behaviors as “training wheels” to get you started, that’s better than not starting at all! In that case, remove the safety behaviors as you move up your hierarchy.
Mix it up! It’s helpful to practice in different settings, when you are in different moods, and so on, because this will help you generalize your learnings. You can also switch among or combine nearby levels in your hierarchy, interspersing a variety of stimuli — as long as you gradually increase the challenge.
Make it fun! Leaving your comfort zone does, by definition, require at least a tiny bit of discomfort, but we can do our best to make it easy and fun for ourselves. If possible, we can make the exposure/experiment humorous or silly, or we can tie it to an enjoyable activity that motivates us. For example:
You could use this practice while engaging in a hobby you love, or trying something you’ve always wanted to experience.
You could make the experiments/exposure playful, comical, or amusing. For example, if you are combating perfectionism, you could make mistakes that are silly, like funny typographical errors.
You could plan a special treat for yourself afterwards, like thrift shopping or having a fancy coffee drink. (Always do your post-exposure/experiment log before your treat, and try not to do things that numb you out, like drinking alcohol or playing video games, because that can interfere with your brain updating itself from the exposure/experiment.)
Get creative! If it makes you laugh or you feel eager to try it, that’s a good sign! Exposure/experiments can make great life stories to tell others later.
FAQ
What if it goes wrong?
Sometimes people think the experiment/exposure is ruined, or could even be harmful, if it “goes wrong” — that is, if it seems to confirm a negative belief. For example, what if you are testing the belief “If I take too long to pick my meal, the waiter will be annoyed,” and he does act annoyed? Or you test the hypothesis “I get anxious and paralyzed when I sit down to work,” and you do feel extremely anxious when you try to work?
Fortunately, it won’t ruin the process, as long as you continue. In fact, it will make the next few exposures you perform more powerful!14
Again, you will not be exposing yourself to things that are actually dangerous, so truly harmful outcomes should be extremely unlikely. However, if your feared outcome does take place, it is especially essential to:
Process it in a systematic way afterwards using the worksheet, so that you can make factual interpretations of what happened rather than catastrophic ones, and to reduce the likelihood of negative ruminations; and
Continue with your hierarchy so that you can have your fear disconfirmed and continue to learn that the negative outcome only happens sometimes, and you can handle it.
Additionally, you are likely to learn something new and make progress towards getting unstuck regardless of what happens in your experiment/exposure.
You could learn, “I am capable of trying new things.”
You could learn, “The bad thing happened, but I dealt with it okay,” or “I survived it, and I didn’t feel bad for as long as I expected.”
You could gather more data on why things went “wrong,” or where your negative feelings come from, which could inform future experiments/exposures.
From testing the annoyed waiter example, I might realize, “I have an implicit belief that if one person acts annoyed at me, it’s evidence that everyone finds me annoying, and I can work to change that belief.”
From the work-paralysis example, I might realize, “It seems like I have a conditioned anxious response when I sit down to work and my mind goes blank ... maybe I could try some emotion regulation tools to dial down the anxiety before I sit down to work.”
Actually putting oneself in the situation through an experiment/exposure can generate these kinds of new insights and ideas for next steps, which might not have been possible through armchair analysis alone.
Won’t this just “retraumatize” me?
There are two big differences between a traumatic event and exposure/experiments: the amount of danger and your level of control.
In exposure, the stimuli are no more dangerous than those you would encounter in everyday life, whereas the events that cause phobias, PTSD, etc. are usually seriously dangerous on a physical or mental level.
14For an explanation of this phenomenon, see the scientific journal article in the optional resources.
FAQ
In exposure, you are choosing to interact with the stimulus, and you know that you have the power to leave the situation if necessary, even though you choose to stay in it to test yourself. This contrasts with most traumatic events; phobias or PTSD are much more likely when the event is surprising (i.e., not in your control) and/or when you feel trapped in the situation. This is why you should never force someone into exposure, or surprise them with a trigger. It must be an active personal choice.
These differences are why exposure doesn’t “retraumatize” people, even if engaging in exposure feels scary or uncomfortable. Feelings in themselves are not traumatic — you can handle them!
Again, for serious mental health problems, or if you’re just not feeling confident in doing exposure on your own, we recommend that you work with a licensed professional. Exposure therapy is safe and well-tested, but it can be tricky to do without support, especially for complex, severe, or chronic problems.
What if I’m afraid of or uncomfortable around things that I can’t access, or that are imaginary?
If possible, you can try to simulate the situation/activity or do something that reminds you of it. For example, if you’re afraid of flying on a plane, it would be unreasonable to take a flight every day, so instead you can visit the airport, watch videos that take place inside airplanes, borrow a VR headset and play flight simulation games, etc.
You can also try something called “imaginal exposure,” which involves vivid visualization of stimuli; however, it is a more complex technique, so we recommend you work with a professional if you want to try it.
How do I know when I’m done? Do I have to do this forever? What if the discomfort/avoidance comes back?
A good sign that you have conquered your hierarchy is when the most challenging item on your hierarchy becomes boring. However, you will probably still need to practice experiments/exposure occasionally to prevent the discomfort and avoidance from coming back.
That’s because experiments/exposure don’t get rid of the brain pathways linking the stimulus to a negative response; it instead creates new, stronger pathways between the stimulus and a sense of safety and confidence.
Sometimes the old pathways might get reactivated, a phenomenon called “fear reinstatement,” and if that happens, you can just keep practicing your exposure/experiments. Think of occasional, continued exposure/experiments as a booster shot to keep your mental health up-to-date.
Optional resources
A detailed explanation of how exposures work and how to optimize it (scientific journal article that reviews the literature on optimizing exposure)
Pre-exposure/experiment log Make a copy of this template for each exposure/experiment.
Pre-exposure/experiment log
1.What are you going to do for your exposure/experiment? Be very specific.
Activity:
When:
What (be specific):
How long:
2. What might get in the way of your exposure/experiment? What will you do if that obstacle arises?
3. Starting SUDS (0-100):
4. What do you worry is going to happen? In other words, what negative belief do you have about this activity?
5. How likely do you feel this negative outcome is? In other words, how much do you believe that thought? Choose a number 0-100%.
Post-exposure/experiment log
1.Ending SUDS (0-100):
2. Did your worry/negative belief come true? Y or N
3. If not, what evidence do you have that it didn’t come true?
4. How much do you believe your original worry/negative thought now? Choose a number 0-100% 5. How would you change your belief to account for the new learning?
6. How much do you believe this new thought? Choose a number 0-100%.
Pre-read week 8
What is this week’s tool?
We are almost done, but here is one more tool to help you focus on change and taking actions. Although problem solving is not part of the CBT approach, it is related to the behavioral component of it that asks us to test, experiment, have exposures, and take action. Working on our problem solving approach and skills will come in handy especially if we are feeling stuck in certain domains of our life, such as in our health, relationships, personal development, career etc — all areas that can have a strong impact on our wellbeing.
Solving practical problems
In Week 3, we looked at a chart to examine our thoughts. In this chart, one path asked us the question, “Is there something you can do about this thought?” If your answer is yes, then this means that the problem in your life may have a solution, and there may be possible actions which you can take to alleviate or solve it. In this section, we suggest you read about the phases of problem solving and then answer the reflection questions that can help you feel unstuck and make progress.
The Agile Approach to Problem Solving
The agile approach is often used by businesses to develop products. It seems to work best for reaching complex goals, fulfilling a diverse and sometimes unclear set of requirements, and helping to develop solutions that are tailored to the needs and wants of specific people. You can see why it makes sense to apply this approach to your personal life and goals as well, right? Through iteration and continuous improvement, you can:
Phase 1
Clarify your desired outcome
Phase 2
Generate ideas
Phase 3
Test & Iterate
Phase 4
Scale Solution
We may all be at different phases of problem-solving and therefore need different kinds of solutions to be able to make progress. Below, you will find four clearly defined phases for tackling a problem in your life. Underneath each heading, you will be able to read more about each phase and work through the reflection questions. If you are unsure about which phase you may be in, we recommend that you start by reflecting on Phase 1 and work your way through all phases. If you made some progress but then got stuck, you might pick the most relevant phase and read the suggested planning tips to then start taking action.
Optional: We have also prepared a more detailed reflection process on each of the phases for those who want to further explore their options and generate solutions for their problems
Phase 1: Clarify the Desired Outcome
Every problem-solving attempt begins with clearly defining our goal and the desired outcome we want to achieve in the end. In other words, the first step is figuring out what “solved“ would look like based on our current situation. Here are the suggested steps to follow when you want to clarify your goal and desired outcome.
Ask yourself: What if the situation looks like X or Y – would the problem be solved then? If not, what is missing?
Brainstorm: What does it look like for people who have already solved this issue to live their lives?
Connect to a value: Make sure your defined outcome is well aligned with your core values (as discussed in Week 2). Define what unfulfilled needs the problem is tied to, and how your needs would be fulfilled by the desired outcome. Ask yourself, “Which of my needs are not being met in my current situation? What could fulfilling those needs look like?” Systematically check for these fundamental needs, to what extent they are met in your current situation (mixed Self-Determination Theory and Schema Therapy):
Identify blockers: If you have not taken any action yet, what do you think might be blocking you? Could there be some unhelpful thinking patterns or negative emotions linked to not taking actions. Try to identify them.
In the blue boxes under each phase, you can read about the details of each phase and find an example. Then, using this worksheet, you can answer the reflection questions for yourself.
Phase1: Clarify the desired outcome
1.Please briefly describe what is one practical problem in your life if solved would likely increase your wellbeing.
I am very unhappy with my job. This affects my overall wellbeing. I have a very narrow task range (consulting in a bank), so I am feeling bored, exhausted, and like a robot, and what I do doesn’t feel like it really matters.
2. So, what is your desired outcome? Try to clearly identify the different aspects of the outcome, requirements, and your corresponding goal.
I want to transition to a job which gives me meaning, where I can learn and see the positive impact it has on others. I also want a more diverse set of tasks.
3. How does this desired outcome align with your core values? Which of your needs are not met in your current situation?
Values: connections, care, helping others, and authenticity are my core values that are currently unfulfilled and that my desired outcome should be aligned with.
Needs: I need a more diverse range of tasks to feel autonomy and competence.
Why do you think you haven't solved the problem yet? If you have not taken any or not enough action, then how did not taking action serve you? What were some reasons for not taking action? What may be blocking you?
I guess I think it will be very hard to find a new job. The whole process is challenging, and I don’t believe I have that much energy. So instead of starting and failing, I have not taken an action. I think this is also my comfort zone. But not doing anything also does not help. I need to find small steps to start and make sure I stick to the plan.
Depending on which phase you are with your current problem-solving, you may move to the related phase:
Continue to Phase 2 IF you haven’t started the solving process OR if you are uncertain about what good solutions could look like or want more great ideas.
Continue to Phase 3 IF you have a clear idea of the solution space, but you are uncertain about the next steps, or experience blockers to take them.
Phase 2: Generate Ideas
Once you have a clear idea on what your desired outcome is, now in Phase2, we focus on ideas on how to solve our problem. One important aspect of this process which we would like to highlight is to ensure that we separate the collection of ideas (the brainstorming) from the evaluation of the ideas (quality assessment).
In this phase, you just want to have as many solution ideas as possible to map the possible option space. You do this by consulting as many sources as possible including your past experiences, different experts, other peoples’ experience, the internet, ChatGPT4.
Below are the steps for brainstorming for ideas. Not all of them may be relevant for your problem, but we still recommend you read them to be aware of alternative approaches.
After collecting these ideas, try to iterate them, add them together, in a way that they may help to eliminate hurdles that can arise when thinking them through.
Strategically choose ideas you’d like to test first to fulfil the needs and reach the outcome defined in Phase 1. Which ideas and solutions might be suitable for you and your case or worth “testing” safely (just assume that the latter is possible)?
As mentioned before, they don’t need to be perfect or definite at this stage. Feel free to also mix up different ideas to get yourself closer to a potentially “ideal” outcome for yourself.
Phase 2 : Generate Ideas
2a. Brainstorm: What information may help you to develop a plan to solve this practical problem? Brainstorm below A, B and C how you could best do your research.
A. What sources of information and evidence may exist about workable solutions such as best practices, and scientific research on the subject, and where might you look for them? Some best practices for research:
Summaries of scientific evidence (search for meta-analysis and reviews) of what works on Google Scholar
Short workshops, and expert talks on YouTube, or online learning platforms such as Coursera
Good first brainstorming to map out the space of potential solutions and get inspiration on where and what to search using LLM such as ChatGPT
B. Who might be good role models? What information can you collect from others who seem like they have really solved this issue well for themselves? Who in your personal network could you reach out to, get an intro to, or learn more about online? What might be associated with in-person or online networks or support groups you could reach out to?
C.Who could be considered as experts in the topic, for certain solution approaches or the problem? How could you find out what they recommend or think?
I can talk to people in my network who work at impactful orgs, e.g., NGOs, and ask if they can connect me to employees supporting operations so that I can chat with them about how their daily work life looks like, what positive and negative aspects about the work there are, plus how they got there.
I can try to get in contact with HR and Ops people that can likely answer these questions, as well as what my current CV might be missing and how I could become a better fit when applying or increase my chances in general.
I can explore online communities of people that do a lot of good, work in ops, and go to corresponding local events to get in touch, and ask Google and ChatGPT which communities to explore , to get in contact with people that made a similar transition.
2b. Research: And now? Very simple. Set goals for your research and do it.
1.Set SMART goals for executing your research.
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