The next step
I often work with clients who feel stuck.
Unsure about what to do next, what action to take, what decision to make, how to prioritize what’s in front of them.
Sometimes, it’s because their destination, where they want to go, is unclear or muddy.
Other times, they have clarity around the goal, but the path to get there is what’s tripping them up.
Often, the solution in either case is to take an action, sometimes any action, that seems to move them closer to a tiny bit of clarity. And then take the next, and the next, until enough becomes clear that they feel confident in what they’re doing.
Recently, while reading What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative by Jim Collins (author of Good to Great and many other books), I found an incredible description of how this process, which he calls Simplex Stepping, works.
Imagine you’re trying to find your way to a destination, but you don’t know what that destination is. Imagine all you can see is a small 360-degree circle around you, and you cannot see possible steps beyond that circle. So, you simply take what looks like the next best step within that small circle. Then you reset and look around the little 360-degree circle of visibility from the vantage point of your new location, and ask, “Okay, now standing here, what looks like the next best step?” You take that next step. Then you reset and take the next step. Even if a step doesn’t prove particularly helpful, or even feels like a small mistake you need to reverse, you simply readjust and ask, “Okay, so now what looks like the best next step?” You just keep next-stepping, one step after another, until you reach a destination. Now suppose, without ever knowing where all the other untaken steps could have taken you, you feel confident that you’ve reached a great destination. This is the essence of simplex stepping through the fog of life.
- Jim Collins, What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative, page 186
This is such a helpful description of this process.
Evaluate your options based on what you can see and what you already know.
Pick an option that seems best (or just reasonable).
Take the action.
Observe the results and repeat.
Eventually, you’ll be somewhere, and that somewhere will probably be pretty great.
What next step will you take today?
June 4, 2026
About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
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