Resisting the flexible future

It’s not that we have to work remotely, it’s that we are ‘clinging’ to office based practices. 

At least someone or some people are clinging. It may not be you. You might be good to go with a more flexible working arrangement. 

But clinging to old practices has happened for centuries. The new is uncertain. 

‘We’re not adopting new ways until we have proof that they work’, said a leader recently. ‘I’ll wait to see what the results are for others first, then I’ll consider whether I will adopt the new way,’ said another. 

These are examples of clinging. 

Waiting. 

Waiting to see. Watching others. Potentially you watch competitors moving first. And because there is greater flexibility on offer, many many more companies become your competitors …in the war for talent. 

The when, where and how we work are still clinging to location. 

And the meetings drain persists. 

There are absolutely better ways. I work with teams and leaders every day, helping them learn and experience new and better ways of working. We try things out, learn, experiment, get comfortable and do some new things. We do less clinging. 

This article in The Guardian by Alexia Cambon, Research Director at Gartner shares more. I’m keen to read her research, ‘Redesigning work for the hybrid world’. 👏🏽 

Let go some more. Experiment, learn and adapt with this change we are in. Less clinging. 

The liminal pickle of the middle

There are plenty of challenges in this hybrid world of work for middle managers. 

Often lumbered with things from above and below, middle managers deserve and need ongoing invested support and development for what I’d call the ‘liminal pickle’ they can find themselves in. 

Liminal because it is between two worlds, potentially in the transition from one to another. 

And pickle... well it’s tricky. 

There’s plenty to read in this Harvard Business Review article by Brian Elliott.

I’ll work from under a palm tree, thanks. You?

That would be my ‘workcation’- somewhere where I could see the water, feel the sun, watch some boats sail by and paddle and splash in the sea. 

What about you? What’s your dreamy work location, because it could become one of those standard job perks that are today... standard, for many. 

Beyond the opportunity to ‘forever work from home’ that some of the big tech companies announced in recent months, Google is now up for the month-long remote-work-from-anywhere perk. 

This article in CNBC’s Global Traveller by Monica Pitrelli shows how the competitive advantage of employee flexibility is growing. 

I was pleased to provide some comment for the article. 

Imagine holidaying. Working. Then holidaying some more. Or enjoying the local cuisine and sights at night after remote work during the day. 

Or remote all night, party all day 😱

It could be just the holiday extender we need when borders open more, and our travel dreams move closer to reality. 

The lines are further blurring between here and there, this cocktail and that zoom meeting. 

Your brain fog is real

The thick, foggy feels of the past year aren’t only happening to you or just in your mind ... it’s a real thing. 

“After a year of lockdown, many of us are finding it hard to think clearly, or remember what happened when”.

Less social interaction, heightened uncertainty, a low-grade kind of trauma underpinning our life ... 

“People are finding themselves more sluggish – their physical and mental weight is somehow heavier, hard to carry around”. 

If you’re leading a team, and you’re not acknowledging or noticing this, it’s time to. 

And if you’ve felt it but aren’t doing anything but persisting and pushing on through, it’s also time to acknowledge it... 

Psychologists say, “For some of us, brain fog will be a temporary state, and will clear as we begin to live more varied lives.”

The sooner you can vary things, at home, at your desk, in your surroundings, throughout your day... the sooner the fog will lift. 

Read more in this great article in The Guardian ... and acknowledge the fog. 

Control freaks : how is the self control going

Self control may be a hallmark of high levels of emotional intelligence but most of us don’t think we have much... or enough! Self control that is. 

And curiously, there’s a link between self control and productivity. 

Do you recognise the cycle of failing in self control and then berating yourself for failing? I do. It’s a strong circuit indeed! 

How do we break it? What can we do instead? 

These tips from the World Economic Forum are both familiar and new: 

Focus on solutions
Forgive yourself 
Eat. Sleep. Exercise. Meditate. 
Don’t say yes unless you really want to 
Don’t seek perfection 
Stay positive
Avoid asking ‘what if’
Ride the wave - the ebb and flow of control. 

Greater self control can require more of us than a single action... once. And it may be simpler than thinking we have to make dramatic changes or embark on mega habits. 

Choosing these alternatives when there’s a blip in our self control is wiser than berating ourselves. 

Read more about it here