From Doom to Delight: How Retail Leaders Can Overcome Obstacles and Create Positive Change

Resistance. Headwinds. Challenges. Obstacles. Call them what you want, we all face forces that work against what we are trying to achieve. It can be easy to fall into a trap where you begin to believe that you cannot succeed, or the process you are working on does not, cannot work. Suddenly, you find yourself entering the Doom Loop (cue ominous music.)

What is a doom loop? In the simplest terms, it is a mindset. A belief that you cannot achieve the outcome you are seeking. That mindset often leads to the self-fulfilling prophecy. Then, not only do you think there is a challenge, you actually create one through your own actions. This is not a recipe for success.

For example, you believe a specific process cannot work for you. You begin to talk about why it cannot work. You find the flaws in the process, and tell others it cannot possibly be the right solution. They end up agreeing with your assessment and change behaviors to move away from that process. The result is the process does not work, driven more by everyone working against that process versus actually understanding the process itself. It is a common occurrence in any retail setting. As a leader, you need to challenge yourself whether you are creating a doom loop, or whether you take the opposite approach and create a delight loop.

Every new situation can be broken into some basic components:

• Situation

• Belief

• Actions

• Results

• Feedback

This is a simple five-step loop that almost everyone experiences in some way when faced with new situations or changes. Step two is incredibly important to how the remaining stops will play out. In a previous article, I discussed mindset and limiting beliefs. This plays a critical role in determining whether you set yourself up to create a doom loop or not.

Doom Loop Thinkers

Those that find themselves in a doom loop generally exhibit behaviors that focus more on the problem versus finding a solution. They tend to be reactive instead of proactive. They find the negative elements of a situation and forego the positives. And they will tell you all the negative consequences of the actions in place of seeing the possibilities. People in this group are more about proving it wrong than improving the outcome. We’ve all met or seen these people; in fact, we’ve likely been that person at some point. It is never an uplifting experience for either person.

Delight Loop Thinkers

On the opposite side of that, we have those that do see the bright side of new situations. They concentrate on potential and innovation. Embrace the change and encouraging others to try new things and think in new ways is their natural reaction. These leaders draw people in to learn, engage, and grow with the new program or process. Not only do they set the actions up as intended, they welcome the results as a learning outcome (even if initially they are negative), and use the feedback as a way to improve.

Finding Delight

You can be a Delight Loop Thinking Leader by beginning with a growth mindset and these few steps.

Start with the possibilities

When presented with a new situation or process, do as much as you can to understand what it is and why it has been introduced. Learning and gaining insight is important to see beyond the surface change you and your team will experience.

Determine your approach

How are you framing up your mindset (your inner voice) and what you share with your team? These beliefs will be what drives everything that happens next. Ensure you have a well-educated point of view ahead of approaching your first actions with the new situation.

Remain open-minded

With anything new, there is a learning curve. Do not let the initial experiences color your early read on what is new. Most things take practice. Give yourself and your team the appropriate grace and repetitions needed to adjust to the situation. Learn from these experiences and apply to your next steps.

Take feedback

Whether this is just creating your own notes, or gathering from your personal experience and from your team, use that feedback to adjust as needed. If you are not getting the outcomes you expect, ask for help. Reach out to peers who have or are making the same adjustments. What is working well for them? What can you share with them?

Most things we do as retail leaders fall into these routines or loops described above. We are experience new situations or processes that are introduced. How we react to them determines the success you will have at any level. It could be the store, your district, a region, and ultimately, it will roll up to the company. Stores that consistently execute change well will lead to successful organizations that stand the test of time. Any organization, of any size, that is made up of many doom loop thinkers will be destined to fail. Nothing new will ever happen. People will hang on to the past, thinking about “the good ol’ days” and miss the opportunities to grow and build better for the future. Take on the role of creating delight loops and watch the possibilities, opportunities, and positive results flow your way.

What will you do to be a delight loop thinker?

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Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash