It starts before the workshop even begins.
I’m building slides, setting timing marks, and somewhere in the planning I realize – again – there’s too much to cover and not enough time. So I start cutting. I pull a section out. I shorten the activity. I tell myself people can figure out the rest on their own.
And then about twenty minutes in, I feel it anyway.
I’m scanning what’s left, adjusting on the fly, moving faster than I want to. There’s no time for people to think. No time for real conversation. I’m covering ground and hoping something lands.
And here’s the part that made it harder to sit with: people left feeling good.
They had notes. They had a next step. They were ready to go try something – on top of everything else already waiting for them when they got back to their desk.
But I knew.
The results didn’t always stick. Someone would leave with a clear next step, try it, and find that the problem was still there two weeks later – just wearing a different hat. Because we’d addressed what was visible, not what was underneath. And I never felt like I was delivering my best work. I felt rushed. I felt like I was handing people something useful but not quite right for where they actually were.
So I changed it.
Most of the people I work with aren’t struggling because they’re doing something wrong.
They’re exhausted because they’re doing everything right – and the same problems keep coming back anyway. The fires that should have been one-time situations somehow show up again on Tuesday. The plan that looked reasonable on Monday is unrecognizable by noon. They’re busy every minute and still behind.
What I’ve learned – from years of working with people one-on-one – is that the thing creating the hard days is almost never the thing that’s visible. There’s usually something underneath it. And until you understand what that is, the next step you try is really just a good guess.
That’s what was missing from my workshops. Not the content. The time and space to actually get underneath it.
The Practical Thinking Lab is built to do that.
Every Lab uses the AWE framework – Awareness, Work, Evaluation – because it’s designed to adapt to every situation and every person’s strengths. The topic changes each month, but the approach is always the same.
You bring the thing that’s been making work hard. We slow down together and look at what’s actually going on – not the surface version, but what’s underneath it. And you leave with one clear next step that fits your work, your situation, and the way you actually operate.
No rushing. No hoping something from a slide deck applies to your specific Monday morning.
This is how I work with my one-on-one clients. It’s where the real shift happens. And it’s what I built the Practical Thinking Lab to do.
The first one is July 23, from 11:00 AM to noon Eastern.
This month’s topic is one I hear all the time: Why Am I Always Putting Out Fires?
If you start most days with a plan and end them wondering where it went – bring that. We’ll slow down, look at what’s actually causing it, and you’ll leave knowing what to do differently tomorrow.
Spots are limited to 20 so there’s real room to work.
*Image created in Canva
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