In a recent coaching session, I asked a client to come up with five different ways she could resolve the problem she was having at work. 

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What are five things you could do, however ridiculous, that would get you out of the situation you're in? Ranging from ignoring all future meeting requests on this topic to, say, quitting your job tomorrow."

She laughed, of course; we both knew she wasn't going to quit her job tomorrow. But the juices were flowing. Just saying something that was possible, however silly, opened up options. What followed were five thoughtful, creative, "coulds" that led her down the next path to action. 

In fact, after asking her to come up with five—possibly silly—options, four of the five were do-able, and three of those were immediately actionable. She picked one and took action that very day.

In "Rebel Talent: why it pays to break the rules at work and in life," Francesca Gino describes the outcomes of "should" vs "could" thinking, using the now-famous Captain Sully (Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed a plane full of passengers on the Hudson) as just one example. When we broaden our thinking to what we could do, rather than what we should do, Gino says, we explore more options before making a decision. And if our experience over time has been one of intentional curiosity, we're likely to have some pretty good ideas about what we could do. "Should" thinking, on the other hand, locks us into analysis and weighing options, using a multiple choice approach when a fill-in-the-blank would fit our needs better. 

Captain Sully, Gino says, used his vast well of knowledge to decide what to do when faced with an emergency. This well of knowledge was built on a lifetime of curiosity for learning, so that when he was presented with multiple-choice options by air traffic control—LaGuardia? Teterboro?—his experience and creative thinking allowed him to see that great, big nearly flat river as just another type of runway and his best option at the time. 

Captain Sully rapidly ran through his "coulds" and created a new solution, saving hundreds of lives. 

The next time you or your team are faced with a tough decision, run through all the possible "coulds" and see what shakes out. Sometimes, you don't even need to run all the options, just come up with three. Maybe someone in your team thought their suggestion was too silly, or they had ruled it out as impossible and wouldn't say it. What a loss to miss their creative idea! Priming the pump might get them to access that deep well of experience.

As a reminder, coaching is available to anybody in the Forest Service for free! Coaching is a partnership between you and your coach to make desired change toward more fully utilizing your strengths, capabilities and ultimately achieving meaningful growth in furthering your goals. If you are interested in having a coach, please email resilience@usda.gov.