Graffiti tag or life saver?

How to get started when you’ve no idea where to start

In militaries around the world, soldiers are taught Immediate Action Drills – simple and effective responses to events and threats that are repeated and repeated until they become instinctive. These IADs are like a playbook – when X happens, do Y, followed by Z.

Naturally, not every scenario can be playbooked (or an infinite number of plays remembered), but as a concept, it keeps teams from becoming paralysed when faced with uncertainty and chaos and wrestles back momentum in their favour.

Now we aren’t born knowing how to do our jobs. As workplaces and roles become increasingly complicated at the same time as there is less and less training, it’s not surprising we can all feel a little lost from time to time.

Could we develop and use IADs at work? Where no matter the scenario, no matter the context, we could roll out a simple step-by-step process to help us steal back control of the situation. Could an IAD help free us from the paralysis that can overwhelm us when faced with not knowing where to start?

Say hello to 2PR3.

Despite the fact it sounds like a graffiti tag name, 2PR3 is an incredibly simple approach we developed to help get started with an impossible task. It’s as easy as contemplating each of the 5 elements in order and applying them to the task at hand. Everything from the most simple to the most complex task can be attacked using 2PR3 with only the smallest amount of creativity.

After you’ve read the 5 steps, click on the image below and see how 2PR3 can be applied to the daunting task of giving an Executive Briefing, or even the simplest of tasks like doing the groceries.

Prepare: What resources are available? What examples or templates are out there? Who has done this before? Do I need a checklist?

Participate: Do the thing as best you can. Ask questions. Get involved.

Record: Take notes and photos. Record outcomes. Fill in a checklist.

Report: Provide updates to the team. Write a report. Give feedback on outcomes. Tell someone what you learned.

Review: What went well? What could be improved? Check in on progress. Follow up on actions.

The potential actions within each element are infinite, and it takes only a dash of creativity to get started. Once the first few start to flow, it’s amazing the momentum that builds, with doubt disappearing like the darkness at dawn.

2PR3 is also a fantastic tool in interviews or examinations when faced with scenario-based questions. Its simple structure gives our minds time to put the meat on the bones of an answer without having to dream up the skeleton first.

Click on the image below to view the full worksheet to see some examples and get started on that impossible task!