[Flash] Flip the Script! (the Key to Forward Momentum)

• Doing the unexpected or revolutionary
• Reversing the usual or predictable positions in a situation
• Abandoning what worked in the past for a new approach

Some examples:

• The Inn at Little Washington restaurant in Virginia is limited to 50% capacity when it reopens next week, so it’s seating elegantly dressed mannequins at all empty tables.
• Learning that farmers are being forced to dump milk and waste produce, supermarket chain Publix is buying food from farmers and donating it directly to food banks. They’ve already donated 150,000 pounds of produce and 43,000 gallons of milk.
• NJ landlord David Placek cancelled the rent for his tenants for the next three months costing him $50,000. His only request of his renters: support local businesses.
• Father Scott Holmer in Maryland is offering drive-thru confessions in the church parking lot.

We don’t expect such actions from restaurants, supermarkets, landlords, or priests. It’s unusual, unpredictable, and surprising. They’re flipping the script!

Recruiter Melissa has a client who applied for a manager-level position and was informed by the interviewer, “We can’t hire you. You’ve never been a manager.”

Her client flipped the script and replied, “But that’s exactly why you need to hire me. Because I don’t bring any manager baggage.”

To flip the script, first identify any limitations – yours or theirs. What boundaries, rules, or expectations are in the way? What objections are you hearing? What could be improved?

Then do, say, or create the unexpected. Take an objection and turn it around. Be unconventional and instigative! Stand out.

• We don’t do it that way! Let’s just pilot it.
• It’ll never work! Here’s how we can make it work…
• You can’t put a picture of your family on your resume! I want you to know why this job is so important.
• You don’t have any experience! I’ll work for free while I get some.
• We didn’t get permission! We’ll ask for forgiveness.
• Who are you? I’m the contractor you wish you knew last time you worked with a contractor.

Nothing about this pandemic feels normal or usual – we’ve been flipping the script in our work and our lives for weeks. So, let’s just keep going… adventure awaits!