In this video, leadership expert Dennis McIntee shares The Excuse Buster Formula™ to help you stop making excuses and start finding solutions. You’ll discover the simple formula that activates your brain’s ability to seek new possibilities instead of giving up. Try it with yourself, then share with your team!
Are you tired of excuses? Whether they’re coming from you or your team, excuses get old quickly.
“I didn’t have time.”
“I was waiting on someone else.”
“It’s always been done this way.”
As soon as someone makes an excuse, the very next thing they do is… nothing.
Your brain is constantly looking for something to focus on. But when you make an excuse, it flips that switch and tells your brain there’s nothing that can be done.
Once your brain hears that, it tends to accept it as truth and it stops working toward finding creative solutions.
The good news is that there’s a simple way to break the excuse cycle and get your brain back online.
It’s called The Excuse Buster Formula™.
Think about one of the most common excuses: “I didn’t have enough time.”
We say this all the time in both personal and professional settings.
And depending on how you look at it, that excuse might seem like the truth. Your schedule is probably packed. Maybe something unexpected came up with a patient, or you were pulled into an emergency that took up your whole day.
Even when things don’t go according to plan, there are still things that need to get done.
The excuse doesn’t change that.
All an excuse does is convince you that you don’t need to find a solution, which is rarely the truth.
(And you know this firsthand because you can see how flimsy other people’s excuses are when they’re trying to convince you that they don’t need to find a solution.)
We all make excuses.
I know I do. I’m great at procrastinating. I tell myself that I don’t have enough time or that I’ll get to it later.
But in those moments, I’m actually doing something I don’t always realize:
I’m shutting down the most powerful tool at my disposal. I’m telling my brain that nothing is possible. And when I do that, my brain believes me.
Excuses tell your brain, “Don’t work on this.”
But that’s what your brain does best! Your brain loves a problem. It loves to look for answers and find a way forward.
An excuse cuts off that powerful energy source before it even gets a chance to find the solution.
Your brain is smart. Understandably, it won’t waste energy on something you’ve told it that it can’t accomplish.
That’s why The Excuse Buster Formula™ is so helpful. It gets your brain back online doing the thing it loves to do: find solutions.
The formula is simple:
Even though [the excuse], how can I still [get done what needs to happen]?
First, you’re acknowledging the excuse without accepting it as an end-all, be-all truth.
You might not have time. That could feel very much like your reality. But how can you still take one step forward?
The Excuse Buster Formula™ turns an excuse into a starting point for creativity. It gives your brain something to work on. And as a result, it often finds new possibilities you might not have initially considered.
The Excuse Buster Formula™ works well with teams, but start by using it with yourself.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been known to make an excuse every now and then. (Even if you’ve kept it to yourself.)
So think about something you’ve been putting off:
Once you identify the excuse, ask the question:
“Even though __________, how can I still __________?”
For example, “Even though I don’t have a lot of time, how can I still move this project forward?”
You’ll probably be surprised how quickly your brain starts to work on it. Best of all, you probably won’t be able to help but notice the solutions that rise to the surface.
Maybe you’ll realize that you could take one meaningful step forward in just 20 minutes. Or you’ll decide to delegate it or block off time on your calendar to get it done.
Your excuses may be real, but so is the power of your brain to find solutions!
Imagine you’re a leader with a team member who hasn’t completed an important administrative task.
When you ask about it, they say, “I just didn’t have time.”
Your knee-jerk reaction might be to respond with frustration or demand that they find the time.
But a better way to activate your staff member is to ask them this question:
“Even though you didn’t have enough time, how can you still get this done?”
You’re acknowledging how they feel while still holding them accountable to their responsibilities.
Perhaps they’ll realize they can ask for help or reprioritize their to-do list.
Regardless of the solution they find, their brain is now working toward a solution, which is the goal anytime excuses surface.
Here’s another example:
Imagine your business has a process that isn’t working well. Everyone knows it needs to change, but months go by without anyone addressing it.
The excuse might be: “We don’t have time to fix the process right now.”
Here’s how that looks with The Excuse Buster Formula™:
“Even though we don’t have time to completely redesign the process right now, how can we still make one improvement this week?”
That’s a very different question, one that invites real problem-solving rather than helplessness or a victim mentality.
Your brain is powerful. Don’t underestimate its ability to find a way forward even when you think the odds are stacked against you.
The Excuse Buster Formula™ helps your brain find new possibilities.
Obstacles might still be there, but asking “How can I still” activates your brain to move forward in the face of those obstacles.
So the next time you hear yourself say:
Add those three simple words: “How can I still…”
Use it on yourself first. Then turn around and share it with your team.
Because when you put an end to the excuses and start looking for possibilities instead, you give yourself (and your team) the opportunity to be more creative and find solutions.
You can do it!
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