To say that much has changed in today’s world would be a colossal understatement. We are operating in an environment defined not by a single disruptive event, but by a continuous stream of change. Economic uncertainty, technological acceleration, shifting workforce expectations, and global instability are just some of our daily headlines. The pace and volume of these shifts can feel relentless. For many, it’s not just the change itself, but the lack of stability between changes that creates fatigue.
Organizational leaders are now navigating a landscape where resistance, burnout, and ambiguity are not occasional challenges, but ongoing realities. To move forward effectively, organizations must draw on a range of tools and approaches to support both individual and team performance. Executive coaching can play a meaningful role in helping people make sense of complexity, stay grounded, and move toward their goals. But when everything feels in flux, a fundamental question remains: where do you begin?
What Are Bright Spots?
In their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath introduce the idea of searching for “bright spots” when navigating change and solving problems under difficult conditions. They share the story of Jerry Sternin, the U.S. country director for Save the Children, who was sent to Vietnam in 1991 to address childhood malnutrition. Rather than focusing solely on the causes of the problem, Sternin looked for exceptions and found children who were well-nourished despite living in the same conditions as others.
By observing these outliers, Sternin discovered that their families were doing a few things differently. They were feeding their children more frequently throughout the day, incorporating small but nutrient-rich additions like shrimp and sweet potato greens into meals. They were also ensuring children finished their food, even if it meant hand-feeding them. These simple, replicable behaviours became the foundation for broader community change, ultimately improving outcomes for thousands of children.
This approach, later defined as Positive Deviance, focuses on identifying what is already working and amplifying it. In other words, it looks for success that exists despite the challenges.
Strengths-Based Leadership
For leaders and coaches, a strengths-based leadership approach can be a powerful way to uncover hidden drivers of success within a complex and demanding environment. Even in the midst of disruption, there are always pockets of effectiveness. Moments, behaviors, or decisions that are producing better-than-expected results. The discipline is in noticing them.
Simple coaching questions can help surface these insights:
- What is working well right now?
- Where are we seeing better outcomes than expected?
- What did you do differently that led to that result?
Focusing on what is working can feel counterintuitive, particularly in high-pressure environments where attention naturally gravitates toward problems. And to be clear, a bright spot approach does not ignore challenges, nor does it dismiss the very real pressures people are facing. Leaders still need to address urgent issues and make difficult decisions.
But constantly focusing on what’s broken can narrow perspective and limit options. Bright spots, on the other hand, expand the field. They offer evidence that progress is possible, even under constraint.
As the volume of change continues to rise, leaders don’t just need better problem-solving. They need better pattern recognition. In the search for a way forward, it may be worth paying closer attention to what’s already working and allowing those bright spots to make their way into conversations.
What’s Next?
Identifying bright spots is a skill — and like most leadership skills, it sharpens with practice and the right questions. If you’re navigating a period of sustained pressure and want support in building this kind of awareness into your leadership approach, executive coaching can help. Connect with our team to explore what that could look like for you.
