... I am sure we have grown tired of having this moment characterized as historic, unprecedented, requiring a pivot, unpredictable, challenging, and so much more. While those descriptors are accurate, to be sure, what should we all embrace and invoke in the next few months? As I have reflected on the lessons I am learning, and the ways I want to enter into our working relationships with one another, I keep returning to these notions, which are ways I center myself.
Patience and Grace: We always endeavor to do our best. But we are human and imperfect. That will challenge us to exercise understanding as new systems and practices are put in place, as people are trying new modes of thinking and working, and as we learn from our missteps.
Interdependence and collectivism: We are all part of a complex organism with many tendrils connecting us to one another in ways both visible and invisible. As such it seems wise to remember how decisions and actions may have an impact on our friends and colleagues in ways unknown to us. Are opportunities we seek likely to cause challenges for others? Can we make decisions that advance us as a collective?
Creative Engagement (AKA Yes… and): As we make mistakes and learn, we also are inviting ourselves to think in new and challenging ways. When you have been operating in a moment of unease, questioning, and unpredictability, it makes sense to approach the new with yes... but. What if, instead, we acted from the vantage point of yes… and? What would that open up for us and invite us to consider?
Celebration, Rejuvenation, and Recognition: Let’s make sure we take time to embrace beauty and joy and celebrate one another. To see and be seen is a powerful commitment we can make.
I'm inspired!
