Sand Mode: A concept for getting unstuck
/The happiest and most level-headed decision makers I know are acquainted with getting stuck. Their equanimity is the result of knowing how to get unstuck. If you’re looking for a superpower, this is a good one.
Credit where credit is due: Sand Mode as a concept originated during a chat with my friend Eric. I’m simply taking it for a drive (as it were). 🙏, E.
You need Sand Mode
A few years ago I owned a Jeep. One of its novel features was Sand Mode. In Sand Mode, a vehicle’s transmission remains in low gear, traction is distributed, and wheels don’t overspin. The result: increased torque and a reliable pace for getting unstuck; e.g. achieving the goal.
I’m guessing designers of the Jeep knew many drivers would have the opposite tendency: to rev their wheels in the assumption that faster would be faster and ignore the tenet that in real life faster can be slower and slower faster. They would get rattled, arrive face-to-face with their lack of preparation, and deepen the stuck. They would need Sand Mode.
The business parallels are everywhere.
In one form or another we’re all either stuck or soon will be
Stuck trying to scale a new idea
Stuck attempting to replicate past success
Stuck without the resources you need
Stuck in a situation you didn’t sign up for
Stuck figuring out how to bring people back to the office
Stuck questioning whether or not you need an office
Stuck in a meeting, an airport, or without cash
Stuck with a song in your head
Stuck not knowing what to do
The list goes on
The question is not if you’ll get stuck but 1 ) when, 2 ) to what magnitude, and 3 ) how you’ll get out of it. It’s whether or not you’ll pass the test and emerge stronger.
I want you to have your own version of Sand Mode.
Plan for obstacles
Sand Mode is a keep-moving-forward state of mind with reality as subtext and preparation as the magic ingredient. When you do the thing - the venture for the gain - it’s what will help you remain cool at the wheel.
Before proceeding:
Many people claim they want to go places others won’t then lose composure and freak out at the first obstacle. They cycle on minutiae because they can’t separate what matters from what doesn’t, their heart rate elevates, and they exhaust themselves and everyone around them. It’s a mess. They lack the Mode. You know this; now you have a name for what they need.
Onward…
Unstuck tip #1: Because reality is hard and you’re forging a new direction, you must be prepared for setbacks. Find the holes in your plan, the entrances that lack obvious exits, the sunk costs and low-probability events that may not occur but then again might. Rehearse what you’ll do if when they appear. Literally (1) go (2) through (3) the (4) steps.
Have contingencies based upon what you’ve learned and prepare to activate them. Prepare because not every decision will be color-by-# and many will be flat-out wrong.
This is ok. Life and business demand decisions: to launch or not to launch, build or not build, target x or y audience, hire this person or that, invest here or there, the list goes on. As long as you can perceive what you’re getting into and have the chops to help your team when they’re stuck, then there’s an excellent chance it’ll be great.
In short: Fortune favors the prepared. Make it favor you. [Not a bumper sticker or billboard…yet.]
Diagnose your situation
Stuck is relative and time is its common denominator. You can be temporarily stuck or royally stuck. Unlike the majority of business decisions, royally stuck is life-altering. Today we’re talking about business decisions but the Sand Mode metaphor travels. (You got that?)
Remember: Stuck is why you get paid. Not to look out for things that are going smoothly.
Unstuck tip #2: Make a short list of where you’re stuck. I’m 100% certain there’s some aspect of your work that’s 99% stuck. Acknowledging the stuck is the first step to getting out of it. For example:
Maybe you need help from someone who knows what they’re doing
Maybe you’re not asking the right questions
Maybe you don’t know because you haven’t tried
Maybe you’re not as brave as you need to be at this moment
Prioritize where you’re stuck. Rank your stuckiness on a series of post-its or index cards, in a notebook or on your hand. Tell yourself: My first goal is finding a way out. Then pick up the phone or your laptop and start.
Set a timeline for your unstuck strategy
Unstuck tip #3: Make a KPI for getting unstuck; e.g. We’re going to Point A by Time B; we’re going to commit to a direction before our next quarterly meeting; we’re going to explore [fill in the challenge that will force you to encounter the brutal facts] not just sit here and muse for the next 6 months; and etc. And we’re going to be flexible and fast and patient and find our torque when torque is required.
Key 🔑: Sand Mode exists to be used. Put yourself in position to use it if you need it! If you wait too long to make a decision, proceed too slowly and without clear intent once you’ve made a decision, or lack the grounding to know which decisions must be made when, then the world will pass you by. Fact. I’ve seen it happen.
Another fact: The best way to not get stuck is to keep moving. Not frantically but with a protagonist’s mindset and composed awareness of how to get unstuck. When you’re aware that plans often go sideways but are prepared and have your bearings, then people will want to work with you. You’ll be more than seasoned (seasoning is for grill foods); you’ll be battle-tested. Sand Mode will be as natural as a walk in the park.
Summary
I want you to have the resolve and frequently audacious stuff to make informed decisions and bring others along for the ride. To maintain your grace, put in the work, instill in your team the confidence that you know what it takes to get out of tough situations because you’ve been there not because you ‘know’ in some intangible hope-as-strategy way. You have Sand Mode or whatever you wish you call your internal setting that offers the traction you need.
You’ll be prepared for anything
You’ll know where you are
You’ll move forward fast
We’ll get there, with or without a Jeep.
—
Bonus material: 5 quotes on getting stuck, coping with the stuck, and finding a way out:
"Remind yourself what you've been through and what you've had the strength to endure." - Marcus Aurelius. The master.
"The need for certainty is the greatest disease the mind faces." Robert Greene. You’re not going to have all the answers. Also not me. Nobody.
“No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.” Seneca. Enter the arena and see your own eyes light up.
Phil Jackson on why he made Chicago Bulls practices so rough: "Not to make their lives miserable but to prepare them for the inevitable chaos that occurs the minute they step onto a basketball court.”
“It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else. Sometimes it is years before I see the way forward. In the case of information loss and black holes, it was 29 years.” -Stephen Hawking. That’s persistence.