What’s the backstory and how will you uncover it

Many a meeting or workshop happens because we want to gather ideas from people, or ‘bring them along’ as a group or team. 

And each meeting presents ideal opportunities to connect, engage and share stories. 

But some meetings don’t allow even a few minutes here and there to listen and learn from people’s experiences. 

It’s such a shame we might push on with progress and not value this experience. 

If you’re feeling a disconnect or distance in your team or group, be sure to build in and allow time for sharing stories. 

It’s how we make sense of what’s going on. 

Invest some time:
- at the start of meetings
- between agenda items
- returning from breaks
... to hear from people. 

Give more time to understand a backstory or personal perspective. 

It can help inform what happens next. 

Better ways of being

As teams come together online more often, there are ways to ‘be’ that help make things easier. 

Whether your online meeting or gathering has just one other person, or there are four, seven or 12 of you...

Watch out for these old, dated behaviours:

Interrupter
Hogger
Judger
Dismisser 
Player
Disruptor 
Distractor
Minimizer
Deflector
... oooh it’s not good is it 
Hider
Denier
Accuser


When times are challenging, stress is high or uncertainty is present, it can be easy to fall back into a ‘survival default’ of sorts where there is pointing and blaming or hiding and ignoring for survival. 

Newer and better ways of being include doing things to support the group (and not always speeding to a solution or decision.)

We all contribute to an environment and a conversation that’s safer and more collaborative. 

If I’m challenged and find it hard to bring the ‘better me’, then I look to these roles. They’re helpful anyway, and keep us in a more resourceful state:

Synthesiser
Integrater
Summarizer
Slicer 
Supporter
Enquirer 
Listener 
Reflector
Participator
Contributor 
Validator 
Elevator.


Think: 
Am I making things easier or harder?
Am I trying to make myself feel better about something here?
Is this going to be helpful?

Change your environment

You’re not broken. You don’t need fixing. You’re not hopeless. You’re awesome!

When we struggle to do something we may get frustrated with or blame ourselves ... or others.

But neither of us may be at fault.

Check your environment, your set up and location, the way you’ve arranged things or set them up.

You can tweak and change things. Even the tiniest change might make a big difference for you. And for them.

More light. Less space. A different angle. A tidy area. Some favourite items. Moving some books. A different chair. A different view. An earlier start. An earlier finish! A change in routine.

All of these things can help us get out of an environmental rut.

If it’s not quite working for you, don’t give up or give in: change something - a little thing - about the environment you’re in.

It could be one little shift towards a big new way.

The world needs us to think and work differently

Here’s a resource full of ideas, inspiration and practical wisdom on how to do that. 

It’s all coming together in the full colour book ‘Better Ways of Thinking and Working’. 

I’ve collected, selected and edited many of the ideas I’ve shared that are relevant for these times of change, evolution and revolution. 

Now they’re coming together in the one place. 

Order via my website or shop 

‘BETTER WAYS OF THINKING & WORKING: How changing the way you do things, changes what you can do’. 

Doing the work gives you the learning

Our desire for things to be easy can mean we might want to avoid the complicated and challenging stuff.  

We love smooth and easy progress! To be presented with the right answer or have the perfect path to completion roll out in front of us is bliss! 

When it comes to running your own business, solving a client problem or working on a complex task, doing the actual work is what gives us the learning. 

Making decisions and trying things out are learning experiences. Frustrating, uncertain, scary ... yes. But confidence and experience building as well. 

What is that quote about there being no sense of achievement without the challenge? 

We can tap advice, pick up some quick tips or even ask others what their ‘best’ answer is. 

More often than not, the better path is one where we experience it ourselves and learn from it.