Evolving our structures
I keep seeing articles (including this one, an interesting read) about this massive upheaval being called the Great Resignation. I am especially drawn to this line, which points to what I think could be a crucial pivot point, if we decide to lean into it:
“Meanwhile, the basic terms of employment are undergoing a Great Reset.”
There has long been a widely accepted story about how we work: you come into an office (or place of work), you put in your 40 hours (or more likely 60+), you get minimal paid time off, and good luck to you in figuring out child care, an affordable place to live (hello long commutes!), and how to manage that seemingly unattainable work-life balance everyone talks about. (See earlier blog post for more on that topic).
However, we have outgrown so much of this old model, and yet we have not moved on from it. But the pandemic forced our hands. Overnight, we stopped going into offices, schools and childcare were upended, and after realizing this was not a two-week pandemic, people fled from busy downtown homes into suburbs and countrysides, some giving up their homes altogether and choosing to live nomadically.
And now, as folks are getting vaccinated and things are opening up (even though there are still areas of high infection and bed shortages), I’m watching companies try to go back to what used to be normal – but what we now know, and have proof, is no longer necessary.
Enter: the Great Resignation.
Folks, we have seen behind the green curtain. Our foggy goggles of “well this is how it is” have cleared and we can see, quite crisply, that things can actually be vastly different and still function – even thrive. And we are not willing to “just go back to normal.”
Let me point to this one example to get the ball rolling for us to consciously choose to evolve our structures: some companies are insisting (or strongly suggesting, in corporate-speak) that employees return to offices for at least some days each week. And despite known and largely acknowledged benefits of working with others in-person, this insistence ignores our abilities as functional adults to self-regulate and get our work done the best ways we know how.
This moment in time is an opportunity for businesses to TRULY become results-oriented, to have crystal clear goals and metrics of success, and send everyone off (figuratively or literally) to go get those results in ways that don’t necessarily demand an in-person 9-5.
Maybe you are one of those businesses intrigued by the idea that this great shake-up could actually lead to a much-needed overhaul of an old system, but simply don’t know how to proceed. I’m here to help! Start with these questions:
Do we know where we’re headed? (Is there a purpose?)
Do we have the right people on board? (Is our life-force full?)
Do we know where to focus? (Do we have simplified, clear goals?)
If your answer is no to any or all of these questions - this is where you need to start. Get VERY clear on each of these.
If yes to all these questions – you have what you need. Now it’s a matter of the daily practice of noticing – and then choosing to let go of – those thoughts that try to pull you back to the old way of working. This is actually the hardest part.
Stay tuned for next week’s blog where we’ll dig into this hardest part and how to make it doable.
This is not a typical office, but it’s one of the places where I’ve done some of my best work.
