Unstuck: A Tool for Yourself, Your Team, and Your World

In immediately accessible terms, they identify the symptoms of being stuck, introduce readers to the Serious Seven states of“stuc”—from“Overwhelme” to“Exhauste” to“Alon”—and offer dozens of in-the-moment tools, techniques, and examples to generate immediate ideas, whether you need to back up in order to move forward, motivate a struggling team, change your goals, or inspire yourself with a clearer picture of where yo‛re headed.

With a handy trim size, a vivid two-color interior, and memorable images that speak louder than words, Unstuck is a book for anyone who wants to get themselves or their team motivated and moving in the time it takes to fly from New York to D.C. Designed to be flipped through, read in chunks, and returned to again and again, Unstuck is an innovation in business literature.

Sandra Spataro, Ph.D., a former executive at Oracle, has worked as a management consultant and is a professor at the Yale School of Management.

4 The story of UNSTUCK.

6 -Step 1: Admitting yo‛re stuck.

(Or how to recognize the symptoms.)

8 Be honest. How is it really going?

16 Now, go forward by zooming out.

18 Learn to fix the system, not just the symptom.

20 See the system.

22 Do any of these systems give you insight into your own?

26 Just how stuck are you?

28 -Step 2: Diagnosing why yo‛re stuck.

(Or how to get at the root causes.)

30 The Serious Seven

32 Overwhelmed

34 Exhausted

36 Directionless

38 Hopeless

40 Battle-torn

42 Worthless

44 Alone

46 Which of the Serious Seven apply to you?

48 -Step 3: Getting unstuck.

(Or what you can do right now.)

51 Have a moonshot.

52 Trust is a bank account. Invest often.

54 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING EXHAUSTED

55 More heart, less intellect.

57 Talent? What talent?

60 Futurecast.

63“I just have no cred”

65 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING DIRECTIONLESS

67 Why ca‛t we get anything done?

68 All for one? One for all?

69 Teamwork is great, but only if you need it.

71 Groupthink. Yep. Yep.

74 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING ALONE

75 Let your soul be your guide.

77 Give the movement a name.

79 CASE STUDY: NEVER LETTING A TEAM FEEL WORTHLESS

80 Take over the TV station.

83 Put your idea down in words.

85 Revive the team. Bring in new brainiacs.

86 Favor plainspeak over breathy bravado.

91 CASE STUDY: NEVER FEELING HOPELESS

92 Host a summit.

94 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING DIRECTIONLESS

95 Write a headline from the future.

99 The meeting has gone ballistic.

100 Build a haven for radical thinking.

102 Deliver on your vision in 360°.

105 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING BEING BATTLE-TORN

107 Commit to a world-stage event.

109 Politics. Politics. Politics.

110 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING WORTHLESS

111 Praise, praise, and more praise.

112 Before any idea can become brilliant, it must first be heard.

113 Go where the unofficial power lies.

115 Invent a prototype of the end state.

118 Control the language. Control the debate.

121 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING OVERWHELMED

123 Make every cell the holder of the genetic code.

125 Take the time to chart a path to your North Star.

126 CASE STUDY: EASING TENSION OF A BATTLE-TORN TEAM

127 Haves. Have-nots.

128 Build a living lab.

131 Deliver the tough message.

133 Embrace thine enemy.

135 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING EXHAUSTED

136 Strong network. Weak network.

139 Find the quiet rock star.

140 Create a mind map to see the differences in peopl‛s views.

144 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING OVERWHELMED

145 Start with the control points of the system.

147 Startle people.

149 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING ALONE

151 Make your brand a manifestation of your compan‛s purpose.

152 Tick. Tick. Tick.

153 Be clear about which mode you are in.

156 CASE STUDY: OVERCOMING FEELING HOPELESS

157 Decide.

158 Try it again——this time with more bravery.

161 Digging deeper.

162 Paths to try.

166 Notes: Paths that worked for me.

172 Sources.

176 Be kind. Now that yo‛re unstuck, help someone else.

178 Thank yous.