The document discusses how in sports and life, people face obstacles but must persist in achieving their goals. It notes several common obstacles in organizations like inadequate resources, competing demands, and conflicts. It provides approaches to deal with challenges, such as assessing problems, prioritizing needs, communicating issues, and getting buy-in. The conclusion emphasizes that we must "play on" and not give up in pursuing our objectives, as in sports and life.

1. Play On!
By: Gillian Martin
Captivating Solutions Consultancy

2. The 2011 World Netball Championships has
renewed my interest in the sport

3. It was quite interesting to see how players
ignored the obstructions of their opponents
and focused on the ring in order to score well
anticipated points for their countries

4. Like with other sports, if a player is wounded,
the medical personnel quickly attend to the
injured player or the player is quickly replaced

5. Whenever there is a conflict, referees often
bring the conflict to a speedy end and with
the blow of a whistle, shout: “Play on!”

6. Persons within organizations also frequently
face obstructions

7. The obstructions may include:

8. Obstruction # 1 : Inadequate resources –
insufficient tools or financing for projects

9. Obstruction # 2 : Competing demands – leaders
might face one set of demands from those
they lead and opposing demands from their
superiors

10. Obstruction # 3 : Pressure to perform under
challenging circumstances

11. Obstruction # 4 : Conflicts and other forms of
crises

12. Obstruction # 5 : Other Challenges

13. In the midst of these challenges, persons must
“play on”

14. Below are possible approaches to deal with the
challenges:

15. Approach #1 : Assess the situation– Kaoru
Ishikawa, a Japanese management thinker,
proposes that persons identify all possible
causes of a problem

16. Approach #2 : Prioritize– identify which needs
are of greatest importance

17. Approach #3 : Communicate– express the
problems encountered to the appropriate
person(s)

18. Approach #4 : Get “buy –in” from the relevant
parties by showing each party how they stand
to benefit

19. Approach #5 : Negotiate- be relentless in
pursuit of the desired goal

20. Approach #6: Make good decisions- adopt the
concept of the Rational Economic Model of
Decision Making by evaluating all possible
courses of action and implementing the best
solution

21. Obstacles exist in all areas of life and work

22. Michael Jordan says: “Obstacles don’t have to
stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn
around and give up. Figure out how to climb
it, go through it, or work around it.”

23. The nature of our pursuits may be professional,
spiritual, financial or otherwise

24. As it is in various sporting games, so it is in the
game of life – we must “play on”

25. Captivating Solutions Consultancy provides over
200 training programmes to church groups.
Some of these programmes are:

26. Resilience: “Play On!”
Team Building: Harmony at Work”
Leadership: “The Anchor”
Personal Problem Solving: “It’s a New Day!”
Problem Solving (for Leaders): “Captivating
Solutions”
Success Tips: “Endless Possibilities”
Maintaining Focus: “The Single-minded
Pursuit of Success”

27. Attaining Personal Goals: “Momentum
Maintained – Goal Attained I”
Attaining Team Goals: “Momentum
Maintained – Goal Attained II”
Developing a Persistent Mindset: “Don’t Quit!
You Can Do It!”
Developing a Positive Mindset: “The Half-full
Glass”
The Many Faces of God – God the Restorer:
“Back – Bigger, Better & Brand New”

28. All honour to the Lord Jesus Christ
who provides this information and
inspires us to :“Play On!”