possibility…

Change sometimes appears like a landslide that blocks all possible routes. It’s difficult to maintain perspective and often the only options appear to be giving up or working harder at what we always do–status quo. Timothy Butler, a psychologist, psychotherapist, and researcher on career decision making offered some suggestions when interviewed by Martha Lagace about his book Getting Unstuck: How Dead Ends Become New Paths (Harvard Business School Press, 2006).

According to Butler, “Impasse means that we need to change our whole approach to the problem. We need to change our understanding of the problem. We have to change our repertoire of ways in which we approach life challenges.”

In Getting Unstuck, Butler describes six phases in the “impasse process” and notes that progress through the stages is not linear but is a back and forth process. The first phase is the “arrival of a crisis” when we put our head down and keep doing what we’ve been doing. In phase two, we “realize that our old ways are not working.” Our “inner critic” becomes very vocal during this period.

In the third phase, we begin to examine the situation more carefully and honestly and in the fourth stage we become receptive to new kinds of information and “begin to appreciate complexity and metaphor in underlying themes.” The fifth stage takes some time and involves recognition of patterns in our life. Phase six occurs when we take action based on what we’ve learned in the previous stages and move forward.

“Feeling Stuck? Getting Past Impasse:” Q&A with Timothy Butler by Martha Lagace (April 25, 2007)
Harvard Business School Working Knowledge: A First Look at Faculty Research