Drop-Down Menus

In the Hollywood sci-fi movie The Terminator (1984), Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a cyborg that’s traveled back in time to kill the future savior of the world.

In one scene, the cyborg is in a rundown hotel room tending to some pretty nasty wounds when the hotel manager knocks on the door and asks him, “Hey, buddy, you got a dead cat in there or what?”

The cyborg scans its drop-down menu for a response to the manager’s inquiry. The drop-down menu of responses looked like this:

Possible Response

• YES/NO
• OR WHAT
• GO AWAY
• PLEASE COME BACK LATER
• F—K YOU
• F—K YOU, A#&HOLE

The cyborg chooses the last option, which usually gets a laugh from the audience.

The movie plot (while definitely worth a watch!), is not the point of this post. Instead, we’d like to talk about the concept of personal drop-down menus for you and others.

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What do we mean by drop-down menus?

Drop-down menus consist of all the options our brains scan when we’re confronted with an opportunity or a challenge. It works great unless the menu doesn’t have an option that fits the situation, or if the menu is no longer helpful.

Sometimes, a staff member will hear their manager’s request, believe they should know what to do, and then as they’re trying to execute it, they find they’re not really sure what to do.

As you think about those individuals in your life who don’t follow through with what you ask, consider whether they have a relevant drop-down menu to guide their actions.

If you think they’re missing a drop-down menu on the topic at hand, try one or more of these suggestions:

• Talk with them about the skills they do possess.
• Offer them coaching and tools to gain the new skills that are needed.
• Explore options together.

By engaging with people in this new way, you’ll be helping them develop a more comprehensive drop-down menu, ideas for moving forward, and some much-needed parameters to help guide them when they feel stuck.

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Take a moment to think about your own drop-down menus as well. Where do you flourish? Where do you tend to feel challenged?

When you find a blank in your drop-down menu, don’t beat yourself up, but also don’t ignore that information.

Reach out to a manager, mentor, trusted colleague, or coach, to get the support and training you need to flesh out your menus and expand your success.

Let us know what you find!