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Home ›  The Impact Blog ›  Your pillows can be almost any colour of blue

Your pillows can be almost any colour of blue

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I was in a meeting with a client and we were discussing his plans to make some changes in his organization. He knew exactly the steps that needed to be taken and he had been working through his plan. He was stalled. His boss had just said “no” to a key part of his plan.  He was angry. He was discouraged. He looked at me and asked for my thoughts.   I said “blue pillows”. He sat back in his chair and pushed away from the desk. “Blue pillows?!” He said.
 
I said, “Yes. I like to decorate. I know from years of decorating that if you need blue pillows, there are many, many different colors and patterns of blue that will work. If you can’t get your favorite, you will eventually find another one that works. It is like that with work. If one approach isn’t available to you, there are many, many other approaches that will also work. Your job is to pick another color of blue.”
 
My client had just finished a renovation and he completely got it. He went back to the drawing board and started looking for other options for his plan. It took some work but he eventually found that other option and he learned something. The war is far more important than each individual battle. You can lose a lot of battles over blue pillows before your run out of different colors of blue.

Sandra Oliver - April 29, 2010
Filed under: executive coaching, leadership, business strategy, strategy execution, managing change, change