I used to spend a lot of time in eastern Africa. When they arrived late for a meeting, friends there would tell me, with a twinkle in their eyes, that time is like an elastic band — it stretches to fit.
Continue reading “Unhurried”The Benefits of Doing
I have a slide that I use in multiple decks. It looks like this:
Connection Before Content
I used to lead parenting workshops, and one of the key takeaway messages was, “Connect before you correct.”
I’m hearing echoes of that concept as people wrestle with how best to maintain relationships digitally over what is becoming a long time apart. As I continue to observe what great teams do in these strange days, they emphasize connection before content. Continue reading “Connection Before Content”
When Disconnection Accelerates Connection
“I had the privilege of attending an Annual General Meeting recently…”
Said no one ever.
Except me today, as the AGM of the International Association of Facilitators really inspired me this week. Not because of the content, which was encouraging but pretty standard. It was the diversity of attendees that caught my attention. I didn’t know everyone on the call, but we were a group of 51 people and I counted at least 23 countries represented! (These global meetings have become my vicarious travelling life…they make me happy.) Continue reading “When Disconnection Accelerates Connection”
Casual Contact
Now that most of us who can switch to online work have done so, some of the implications of this new mostly-digital life are becoming clearer. Two that I’m noticing are feeling particularly insidious, and I’d love to hear how you’re tackling them:
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- The extinction of spontaneous conversations. Whether it’s touching base over your cubicle wall or bumping into people on the sidewalk or catching up with a colleague in a hallway after a meeting, our opportunities for unscheduled chats have dwindled. Who would have thought we’d miss small talk! There are so many social touchpoints that don’t warrant an appointment but add to the richness of our days. This is not only a social loss, but also a hit to our “reconnaissance capacity” at work because we have less of a sense of what’s happening on the street.
- Medium-priority social gatherings in peril. As the weather gets colder and daylight hours shorter, our evening gatherings outdoors feel increasingly precious and precarious. In contexts where distanced socializing is difficult, I hear people saying, “We could meet on Zoom, but do you mind if we don’t?” Even though we have figured out how to translate our social or volunteer commitments to digital ones, spending our work days online means that we don’t necessarily want to do the same in our evenings. Extending our screen time does not feel like a win, and our formal and informal community building can suffer as a result.
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