Unstuck. By Design

Do you feel overwhelmed? Directionless? Hopeless? Worthless? These symptoms are common indicators that you’re stuck. In times of economic downturn, right when change is required the most, we see more people, teams, organizations getting stuck and seem unable to move forward to achieve their goals.

Organizations get stuck when one or more elements of their system (purpose, strategy, structure and processes, skills and culture) is out of alignment, and the same is true for individuals: when the elements of your personal system are out of alignment, that’s when you’re most vulnerable to getting stuck. Then, what you can do about it?

Unstuck is a free iPad app that comes to help you focus on and think differently about a stuck moment so you can move forward. It’s like having a coach on hand whenever you’re feeling stuck about a life situation. The app is the brainchild of SYPartners, a consulting firm founded by @KeithYamashita. Keith is a guy that for the past two decades has worked alongside leaders at Apple, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, eBay, Nike, and Gap, among others.  And most recently helped IBM leaders to formulate the company’s brand strategy and design, and to launch a shared agenda with the world about building a Smarter Planet.

The app is a great example of design thinking in action.  Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result, and combines empathy (by taking a people first approach), creativity (by challenging the constraints and seeing beyond existing alternatives) and strategy (by translating ideas into real outcomes). More and more is embraced by business leaders as a method to boost growth, building on the lessons of the most innovative companies around the world.

Unstuck gets you to the point where you understand what you need to do to move forward and how you’ll do that. To achieve this you go through a process of defining what you are feeling (selecting 3 choices out of 24 options), writing down what are you stuck at (writing is always good forcing function to get clarity in our life), defining what thoughts your mind is going through, and what actions you’re doing because of the stuck moment. From there, it gives you an approach on how you can get unstuck as well as tools to help you think through details.

Bottom line: get unstuck: make a decision, set goals, see all the possibilities, overcome obstacles, rediscover purpose, make a plan, crystallize your ideas, get motivated. There is an app to help you achieving this. By Design.