Taking back time:
Finding ways to balance when dealing with overwhelm – part 2
We expect agility and experimental iterations in our journey from Business as Usual to the Unknown world 'Post Covid', but we also rigidly expect the same old clunky procedures and protocols.
This is especially hard on people in leadership positions who feel responsible for getting things right, making it safe, supporting their teams, and performing well.
In the leadership space, there's growing recognition of the need for both Futures Thinking and Systems Thinking. These can inform our strategies as well as enable decision-making during the confusion. They help us set direction and identify the impact and unintended consequences of what we do and how we do it. These practices widen our frame and help us innovate and create solutions, they can support us as we change our way of working and create sustainable alternatives. However, they take courage if they're to be relevant, rather than just adding extra responsibilities. We need to be clear about where our processes and systems sabotage the fundamental resources of our future: our talent, our leadership, our decision-making ability, our capacity for change.
We do not have the answers, yet. There's more change coming and more demands and expectations. There's pressure to make up for last year, stay ahead of the game, prevent any more fall-out and find a New Normal (or, for some, 'return' to the old 'normal'.) Adding foresight and systems perspectives to our toolbox is an essential practice, but if we don't stop the runaway train of overwhelm and overwork first, we're unlikely to get very far for long.
Take a breath. Take a moment. Re-calibrate. Ask for support. This is Important.