The Army Mantra to Get You Through Work Obstacles -The Muse

The Army Mantra to Get You Through Work Obstacles -The MuseThe Army Mantra to Get You Through Work Obstacles In the five years I spent in the Army, I picked up a number of useful phrases that have stuck with me even now that I work in the civilian world. One of my favorites stems from my time spent in the company of combat engineers- soldiers whose duties include tackling rough terrain through blowing stuff up (demolition) and building things (construction).Breach or bypass, they would say whenever we came to a sticking point in a plan. It could be a canceled training event that we were counting on to fulfill a mandatory requirement, an uncooperative commander holding up a deadline, or even the mundane (like computers crashing)- if it was identified as an obstacle to getting the job done, it triggered those three important words.In the Army, a breach is a mission when you use all available means to break through or establish a passage through an opposing forces defense. In other wo rds, its when you refuse to take no for an answer. It can mean finding a way to sign the client, negotiating for the raise you deserve, or pushing to finish a project by the deadline. Bypass is when you maneuver around an obstacle while maintaining your momentum. I like to think of it as a boulder in the river you want to be the water flowing around the immovable rock, not the dead tree limb stuck against it. Maybe its a budget that you cant increase, so you find creative ways to pull off the event youre tasked with throwing. Or, maybe its finding a way around a manager who says, Weve always done it that way, by demonstrating to your team that it can in fact be done differently.Whatever it is that must be breached or bypassed, do what you need to do to keep moving ahead. If its a factor you cant influence bypass and go under, over, or around it. If its something you have the power to break down- breach. The two options help force you to think through challenges to find solutions, ra ther than stalling out at the first roadblock and throwing your hands up in frustration. And thats why its become my go-to when Im struggling to solve a problem.