Coaching practices for If Then Planning During Conflict

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For If Then Planning During Conflict, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• My plans hold up fine until something throws them off
• There’s one specific thing that wrecks this for me every single time
• It’s always the same thing that knocks me off
• I’ll be deep in the thing that matters and then a "quick" request or an urgent-looking email pulls me off it, and I tell myself I’ll come right back but I never really do
• I make perfectly sensible plans but they sit there feeling optional, with no real fire behind them

Practices that may help

1. If–Then Planning, Made Practical
   If–then plans (also called implementation intentions) specify in advance how you will respond to the specific situations that typically derail your goals: "If situation X occurs, then I will do Y." A meta-analysis of 94 studies found a medium-to-large effect on goal attainment — one of the most reliable single techniques in goal-setting research.
2. Plan for obstacles with coping plans
   Anticipate the specific obstacles most likely to block your plan and pre-decide your response to each.
   Action Planning
3. Write an if–then plan for your biggest obstacle
   "If [obstacle occurs], then I will [specific response]" — pre-deciding removes the obstacle’s power.
   If–Then Planning, Made Practical
4. Use if–then commitments for predictable barriers
   Pre-plan your response to the specific situations most likely to derail the action.
   Committed Action, Made Practical
5. Write an if–then plan that protects your priority from interference
   "If [competing demand/distraction appears], then I will [delegate/defer/decline] instead of abandoning my goal."
   If–Then Planning, Made Practical
6. Combine mental contrasting with an if–then plan (MCII)
   Fantasize about success, then vividly imagine the key obstacle, then write the if–then — the sequence matters.
   If–Then Planning, Made Practical
7. Form an if-then plan linking the obstacle to a specific response
   "If [obstacle occurs], then I will [specific action]" — this plan is what converts mental contrasting into behavior change.
   Mental Contrasting and WOOP
8. Recognize when to shift modes mid-conflict
   The mode that’s right at the start of a conversation may not be right ten minutes in.
   The Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI)
9. Identify your default conflict mode
   Before you can choose a mode, you have to know which one you use automatically.
   The Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI)
10. Use Competing when speed or safety matters more than buy-in
    Competing — high assertive, low cooperative — is appropriate when the decision is urgent, high-stakes, and not open for debate.
    The Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI)

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