Today’s solutions might be hiding in the future.

A typical career coaching session is designed to help clients become “unstuck.” Some of the tools and resources we use are a bit unconventional, and can really draw someone out of their comfort zone. But out of the comfort zone doesn’t mean uncomfortable. Just new and different; a way to change perspectives, so clients can find the answers that have been inside themselves all along.

A favorite and effective tool is something I call the Look Back. It’s the process of looking backwards from the future, and breaking down the actions, resources and support needed to get there. The Look Back is based on the idea of Reverse Engineering which is, technically, the process of dissecting a system to understand how it works and what else it can do. Think about taking apart an old toaster to see how it works.

Sometimes a client doesn’t know why they’re stuck, or where the obstacles are. They know what they want, have tried the usual routes, and can’t seem to achieve their goal. Before they can play Look Back, the client has to fast forward to their desired future. A typical question from the coach might be, When you get what you want, what will you have? The client describes the benefits of reaching a desired goal, and then magically and imaginatively goes there. They share where they are, what they are doing and how they feel. They identify people who might be with them, and notice what is missing - what’s not there, in the future, that is part of your life today? The more detail, the better. When a person can truly see themselves in that future, desired state, then they’re ready to play Look Back.

The Look Back starts by taking just one step back from that ideal future moment. To use a simple example, let’s say someone has a goal of running the New York City Marathon. What has to happen to get them across that finisher’s mat? Well, you have to have run 26.2 miles. Which means you have to have started the race, which means you have to have found your way to the start line, wearing the right shoes and your favorite sweatshirt, which your running coach gave you before you left for the weekend. Which means you have a running coach…

So you see, each step backwards introduces a step in the process of getting from here to there. Maybe we’ll walk backwards through the training, from tapering before the race, to getting in long runs on the weekends. The client might track all the way back to buying the right shoes and downloading a running app on their phone.

Using this example, the client can pinpoint the blockers standing between them and the goal. In our example, let’s say that a blocker for this client is scheduling those long Saturday runs. We talk about what action steps they can take to resolve that specific blocker. We might even use a Perspective Wheel at this point to generate a wide range of possibilities. Clearly visualizing the end game, and then reverse-engineering the process of getting there, is a powerful way to tease out some surprising solutions that are already waiting there… in the future.