Stucco
Getting unstuck
Stucco is a procedure for discovering the root causes of an undesirable downward spiral in our current cycle of behaviour, influences, situation and beliefs − what we call a ‘mess’. When we feel as if, whatever we try, we’re taking two steps forward and three steps back.
Stucco gets beyond hunches, guesswork and limited, linear ‘fix-it’ thinking. It is designed to deliver genuine changes in the architecture of our ways.
We often describe our Situation using a mixture of facts and feelings; tangible and intangible factors. In Stucco we focus in on the more specific and tangible parts of this.
Look for things that are indisputably stuck - specific and measurable things where you could clearly demonstrate improvement if the “mess” was unstuck.
These can be described in family, social, political, business, economic, physical and emotional terms. In some way, they are the results of our previous decisions, actions and inaction.
Examples:
- I’m working long hours but I feel like I’m achieving less
- Our sales are 15% lower than they were a year ago
- I’m putting on weight despite being on a diet!
- We used to have a great relationship, but nowadays my boss and I just communicate by e-mail
Right Doings:
- What are you doing that seems to be moving you in the right direction? What are the actions you are taking which feel like the best that can be done?
Wrong Doings:
- What are you doing that feels like it’s not helping? What are you doing that you know to be ‘wrong’ (but is possibly being done for other reasons or because there is no alternative)? We can sometimes learn more from things that haven't worked than we do from our successes.
Not Doings:
- What aren’t you doing that might help? Is there anything that you know would improve your circumstances, but are not doing for some reason? There are always limitations on what we can do, so thinking about the things we haven't done can also reveal the roots of the Mess.
Forces are those external influences on our lives and businesses which we have little or no control over.
Usually, these are big entities and powerful people, essential physical laws, and cultural, economic or environmental trends.
Examples:
- My kids both have important exams during this school year
- Deliveries have been disrupted by bad weather recently
- A competitor has opened a branch in my city, and is trying to hire my best members of staff
- There are only 24 hours in the day!
- New tariffs have been introduced by the country we export most of our goods to
Our assumptions and beliefs are personal. They are the things we believe to be true which influence the actions we take. When we are confronted with a set of conditions and we have a goal in mind, our actions are informed by our assumptions and beliefs.
We are trying to figure out why we make the choices we do. Very often we are not really conscious of the beliefs driving our decisions, or are unwilling to recognise them. Then we have some logical work to do.
This is not easy! One thing that makes it easier is to imagine that you are an alien from another planet, observing someone in this situation - if you had no other information than the description of the Situation, the Doings, and the Forces, what conclusions would you come to about that person's beliefs and assumptions? What is driving them to make the choices they have made?
None of this is necessarily true or real! We are just exploring, in order to give ourselves some different options. You can read this story as a "Vicious Cycle" that explains how the mess could have been created.
Having described a “vicious cycle” in the previous step, we can now use this information to create a more virtuous upward spiral to replace it. The first step is to work on the assumptions and beliefs.
We are still just experimenting, trying on some new ideas to see if they fit. We're doing this as witnesses rather than participants, exploring to discover new perspectives on the mess. Simply trying the opposite of the old beliefs can often work.
We can continue this exploration until we land on something that feels like it is worth bringing into the real world. Keep working with new beliefs and actions until you're ready to test these ideas against the external forces.
Having described a “vicious cycle” in the previous step, we can now use this information to create a more virtuous upward spiral to replace it. The first step is to work on the assumptions and beliefs.
We are still just experimenting, trying on some new ideas to see if they fit. We're doing this as witnesses rather than participants, exploring to discover new perspectives on the mess. Simply trying the opposite of the old beliefs can often work.
We can continue this exploration until we land on something that feels like it is worth bringing into the real world. Keep working with new beliefs and actions until you're ready to test these ideas against the external forces.
What seems to be stuck? Describe your current situation, focusing on the specific, factual conditions of the “vicious cycle” you are trying to break free from.
In the box below, describe the situation that you’re trying to change.
What are you doing to change the situation? What actions are you taking?
List what you have been doing that has helped (“right” doings), things that haven’t helped or that you are doing for other reasons (“wrong” doings), and also things you haven’t tried yet (“not” doings).
What external factors could be affecting the situation?
List those things that you have no control over that could have an impact.
What would someone have to assume to be true in order to take these actions?
How could these beliefs be modified in a way that might lead to a better outcome? List a few new beliefs here.
Brainstorm a few actions that someone who held these beliefs might take.
How effective will these actions be in the face of the real world forces you identified earlier?
Will you need to modify any of these actions, or do anything else, to work with these forces?
How might the actions improve the situation – what would demonstrate that things were better?
Stucco
With new insight and some ideas about what we can do to break out of the mess, we can now try this out in the real world, getting things moving in small, positive ways. These are ventures, learning experiments that we can complete in a week or two. This exploration will give us some quick reassurance about the new beliefs and actions we have come up with.
You should have plenty of material for potential ventures! Integrate it into one or two trials for the coming weeks and then see what happens.
With enough testing, our minds will change. The alternative belief will, over time, become a core belief, supported by direct experience to back it up. We probably weren't too far wrong in the first place, but a few small changes in our assumptions can get us unstuck.
Did you find out anything amazing?
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