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”Why Bother Showing Up In Person?
I’ve become so distracted by ensuring that digital participants are engaged fully in in-person-turned-hybrid events that I was stopped short by a client’s comment last week: “We really want people to come to our conference in person. Why would they bother, if attending remotely is an option?”
Continue reading “Why Bother Showing Up In Person?”Forewarned
Where I live, it is becoming increasingly possible for people to meet in person.
And my stress level is rising.
Not so much because of COVID risk, but because uncertainty is stressful. And higher stress means lower adaptability. Hear the paradox? So I’m digging into the source of the stress, and it’s because people are shifting gears on short notice. Forewarned is forearmed.
Continue reading “Forewarned”Resisting Adaptability in Real Time
One of the most piercing coaching questions I’ve heard (courtesy of Jerry Colonna) is, “How have you been complicit in creating the conditions you say you don’t want?” Ouch.
One condition I say I want is to be “easy to buy.” I want my clients to find the process of working with me to be clear, smooth and easy.
Continue reading “Resisting Adaptability in Real Time”Collective Adaptability
I am conscious of being in a liminal space recently, somewhere between gatherings happening digitally and in-person and a new “third way” of hybrid that has more variations than I can describe.
Liminal spaces are exciting and uncomfortable and tiring.
This particular transitional time reminds me to be grateful for the fact that adaptability (which we all need) is both an individual and a collective responsibility. The Adaptability Quotient assessment tool measures personal skills such as grit and resilience, but also collective features such as work environment and team support. This means that our shared environments can both contribute to and undermine our ability to adapt, just like our temperament and skillsets can.
Continue reading “Collective Adaptability”