'What the hell do we do now'?

The sh*t hit the fan, a pandemic struck and the world shifted! 

As things changed, we had to change. At each turn there was a new set of choices, options ... and often there were opportunities too. 

We kept asking, ‘what the hell do we do now?’ 

And the changes and challenges keep coming! 

Over the past few months, I’ve collaborated with 17 other authors to write the aptly titled 'What The Hell Do We Do Now', an enterprise guide to COVID-19.

I contributed the chapter ‘Adapt’ and share some of the examples of different intensities of adaptation. 

Adapt - it’s what we need to do when we’re faced with changing conditions. 

 
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The back cover reads: 

2020 has been a year of significant disruption to organisations all around the world. By the end of February, bushfires, protests, riots, drone strikes, impeachment and Stock Market crashes had shocked the world. Britain left the European Union and some Royals left Britain. The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken business, economy and society to its core and profoundly changed our priorities and operations. In these times where business, society and economy are being reshaped, we have also seen people and organisations step up and forge a path into the New Normal.

In What The Hell Do We Do Now, 18 authors explore the tools and frameworks that can help you and your organisation navigate and emerge from crisis in better shape than when you entered it. Drawing on their own research across a wide range of domains, the chapters follow the narrative arc of Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s Heroine’s Journey, the classic story-telling formula of heroes who are thrust into chaos and return transformed through the challenges they face.

Obsessed with a detail

Missile lock.
Focused on a target, excluding everything else.
Determined.
Sticking with it.

This is singleminded focus.
And we need it in many situations.

Yet our crazy changing world requires us to also lift ourselves up out of that detail and to see the wider view.

It doesn’t mean we don’t see that task or project as important.
It doesn’t mean we won’t return to working on it.

We can get lost, blinded and ignorant to what is important and what the priority is. Just because we’re ‘in too deep’ or ‘too far gone’ doesn’t mean it’s the right path or that we can’t pause or reverse out.

The ‘sunk cost fallacy’ can drive us to continue with something because we’ve already put so much effort in.

But hey, isn’t that also a good reason to pause, and reassess if it really is still so very important?

Somewhere between persistence and stubbornness is a space ... a flexible space where we can put our attention and effort so it’s valuable, impactful ...and efficient.

If we don’t raise our eyes, lift our head and come up out of the detail, we may never see what the bigger picture is all about.

Pause for a little while.
Look up ... and around.
Reset.

How adaptable we are

Some of us like to do the same things the same way. It’s easy. It’s familiar. It’s safe.

Others don’t mind a change ... they think it’s as good as a holiday! A little bit of difference or newness keeps things interesting. But then happily slip back to the world of sameness for safety.

Still others welcome difference, newness, change and evolution. All the time. It allows adventure, improvisation and ingenuity. It stretches us and we learn. We have new experiences and the challenge ... of a challenge.


How would you rate yourself?

Are you really up for change and being adaptable for new ways of thinking and doing things?

Or are you hanging on to sameness for security and safety?

This isn’t just little change like a new outfit or restaurant.

How the world is changing is requiring us to change. And some of us don’t want to change.

Rate yourself, again. Where does the arrow point to for you?

What you used to do vs what’s needed now

What did you used to do?
Are you still doing it?
Or has it changed?

Do you do something different now?

What might you be doing next?
What does the world need you to do?

How are you adapting and changing what you can do?

Explore your ingenuity

When we’re faced with a problem or challenge, things may not work the way we’d like them to. We can become frustrated about that; we might complain, wish it were perfect, give up or... we can explore our ingenuity.

Ingenuity is our very own Department of Clever. Ingenuity is when we’re resourceful, using what we have. It’s how we fix or juggle things and make them work.

It could be how we make things fit in a cupboard or shelf, or how we prop up a computer screen on books or boxes so the camera is level with our eyes.

Ingenuity could be how we’re cleverly using space at home, or how we throw a few ingredients together for a kind of meal we’ve never made before.

Some of the best, most practical solutions come about when we explore our own resources of clever. And even if you don’t think you’re clever all the time, your ingenuity is still there ... waiting to go to work the next time you challenge it.

Try the ‘explore’ option next time a struggle or challenge is upon you and see what your mind delivers up to you in order to solve it. Ingenuity is a different resource to creativity, and it’s part of how we learn, survive and adapt in the world.

Clever you!