Watching my son's baseball game last night, I saw the coach do something that I didn't like, but I know he had to do. They were down 2 runs and it was the last inning - they had to somehow stack the deck to even the score. What did the coach do? The sides changed, my son was about to be up at bat, and the coach made the decision to move the batting order around (they are allowed to do that) to favor some of the more heavy hitters. What happened? They tied it up and eventually won the game. Now to your career. Sometimes when faced with an immovable obstacle, one needs to change what they are doing. The more hard-headed one is - the bigger the obstacle will become.

Try something new — either go around the obstacle or don't deal with it at all. Some suggestions:

Job boards and recruiters are not helping your job search - try networking and connecting with influential people.
Someone on your team keeps complaining about their work — give them one of your projects to work on — they might shut up.
Feel stuck in your position — build your potential — read books, go to lectures, take a course. Start a blog! Expand your horizons.
Continuously at meetings all day — stop attending 1 or 2 of them. See what happens. Leave early/show up late.
Have an open door policy? Nice guy — no time to do anything else. Limit your exposure to the troops. Close that door.
Current contact list not delivering that job? Time to make a new contact list — get out there and meet some influential friends. Do you know your mayor? Your representative? You should — they are well connected individuals — call them for an appointment today.
Boss not listening to you? Try another communication method. If email is getting lost in the shuffle, pick up the phone or even better, stop by his door for a quick 2 minute discussion.
Resume not getting any response? Time to update it with better keywords, action verbs and most of all - Be Concise! Still not working? Try a resume writer (call me for the best ones).

Bottom line - stop hitting your head against the wall. Changing your game — even a little bit — might make all the difference. You might hit a home run.