Better flex/Tough to decide/Phrases of change/Finding patterns/Beautiful work/Online workshop fun/Clunky middle
Lynne Cazaly
New Ways of Leading & Learning | Award-winning 10 x Author | Speaker & Facilitator | Next book: Clever Skills | Sculptural Artist |
Beautiful work?
How we feel about work tasks, projects we’re working on, home chores and the general life admin we have to do, can be lifted and shifted.?
The physical environment where we work plays a big part in how we feel about what we’re doing … and how we go about doing it.?
While we might not have the most perfect work space, small and subtle aesthetics can make a big difference to what we see, think, feel and experience.?
A cool, clean, clinical and methodical environment might suit you best.?
Or comfortable, creative, colourful and calm might be more your speed.?
Chaos, clutter and cat hair??
Wherever you can find some quiet space might be the reality!
Or we might be a ‘work in progress’: our environment might not be exactly how we’d like it to be, but we’re getting there.?
Work. For an activity we spend soooo much time in and on, we’d do well to create the most suitable environment we possibly can, whenever we can.?
??Something that works for us.
??Something that helps us create and make beautiful work, the best we’re capable of delivering.?
??Something we can find enjoyment in, even if the task itself is tough, challenging or a little dull.?
Consider this list of elements that can enhance where and how you work. You don’t need all of them; there might be one or two that make your environment more suitable, practical, functional and flexible.?
A LIST
- a plant or flowers… ?? some life, greenery, cactus, succulent or otherwise?
- coffee, tea, water or other beverage ????
- a clean desk/space?
- artwork or imagery ???
- healthy snack ??
- comfortable seat
- standing desk or a box/alternative to elevate your workspace ??
- adequate light ??
- sentimental gift from a friend or family member
- memento or souvenir from travels - trophy, certificate or meaningful award ???
- favourite pen, pencil or other tool
- journal or notepad ???
- some music or a sound scape
- comfortable footwear
- stationery, storage or office elements that appeal to you?
- a special piece of furniture?
- a rug, mat, wrap or cushion?
- a pet or other companion?
- clean window
- fresh air?
…
These are all powerful elements of a workspace that can make a big difference to how we feel and experience our work.?
With flexible work here to stay, tweaking and editing your work environment — wherever you are, no matter the size, situation or location — is an activity that can reap rewards in?
??outcomes
??creativity
??calm?
and?
??focused productivity.?
Do you have a favourite element that helps you do beautiful work??
~~~
Phrases of change
Monitoring trends, noticing cues and connecting dots are curious activities.?
Things happen.?Then you wonder about them.?And wonder further about if they’re at all connected … and how.?
We can wonder and notice the various phrases and concepts that come in to vogue.?
Recently there’s been :
Three phrases from just the last year that generate discussion, make us think and categorise people and behaviour.?
They prompt questions :Is it … or is it not? Did they … or not?? Will they … or won’t they??
They’re simply categories we use to try and understand the new, changing and uncertain.?
Labels.?Names.?Titles for the Unknown.
There’s an opportunity here for us to :
??notice and monitor … to see if this thing is happening where you are.?
??learn and watch … to remain aware of trends and how they’re evolving or changing.?
??collect and proceed … keep going with your intentions, projects and plans, with these observations in your pocket.?
Connecting dots, weaving themes and noticing patterns are powerful ways of thinking and working in changing times.?
You don’t need to jump on board, climb on the bandwagon and become an expert in it. But you don’t need to completely dismiss or ignore it either.?
There’s somewhere in the middle … it’s the noticing and the connecting of the dots as they’re occurring.?
What do you think will be next?
~~~
So much fun …
To be able to work with an international team, across time zones and locations.?
I’m often asked to speak on 2-3 topics in one keynote and to weave them together in both a cohesive and practical way.?
Today, it was a keynote and skills workshop on 3 topics in one.?
The topics were :
??working in modern ways for greater personal, team and enterprise effectiveness
??better ways of collaborating?
and
??creative ways of generating ideas.?
领英推荐
We also collected ideas, hacks and tips from across the team; a little crowd-sourcing.?
And importantly, we had a laugh.?Too much learning — and work generally — can be drab, dull or dry. And it might have to be given the serious nature of what needs to be done or what challenges need to be addressed.?
But learning and development is an opportunity to create a highlight of the week, month or year — a high point of interaction and inspiration.?
If you’re lifted up a little and have some practical techniques to try out right away, that’s a great experience for all. No cheesy corny stuff needed.?
I'm taking bookings for keynotes, workshops and presentations - in person and remote/virtual - for the rest of 2022 and 2023. Get in contact!
~~~
Better flex?
Here’s my recent contribution to?forbes.com.au?& Forbes Australia. It's a thrill to be involved as a contributor to the new arrival of the publication in Australia. Stand by, plenty more articles to come...
Is there something you think I should write about? Let me know...
~~~
When it’s tough to decide?
‘I don’t care, get me whatever.’
‘It doesn’t worry me, I just want it done.’
‘You choose, my brain is fried .’
In times of uncertainty, fear or fatigue, it can seem too hard or too overwhelming to have to keep on making decisions.?There are so many options, scenarios, consequences and unknowns.?
But one by one, each decision can be made easier with this kind of 1-2-3 mantra I use:
1. Find the path
A path helps give us more certainty of where we’re heading — even if we don’t know all the details or what’s ahead yet. It’s a direction marker.?
It could be a new path for you, or a path another has taken… or there may not be an actual path, but a hint of where you’re going.?
2. Make a decision.?
What are you going to do??
Our attention, energy and motivation is stolen by all of those unmade decisions sitting in our mind.?
To reduce overwhelm and pressure and move out of inertia, we can make a few more decisions now we have a path.?
We can be less fearful about this now because many decisions can be adjusted later (or reversed) if they’re not right for you.?
Hear that reversing truck sound? You can often alter, shift and adjust more than you realise.?
But make a decision. Making no decision while on a path when a decision is needed saps our time, energy and attention.?
And power. We give away our power to others, the conditions, the situation … but we can often choose more than we realise.?
3. Take action.?
We can’t think our way through decisions despite running scenarios in our mind and trying to predict what will happen with them.?
This is often what inertia is — we’re busy thinking of every possibility.?
Instead, action can now be a great way to work out if what you’ve decided and where you’re going is a good fit. And feel.?You can step out along a safer, less uncertain path:
1. Find the path.?
2. Make decisions.?
3. Take action.
Now… where is that path …?
~~~
Finding patterns as a skill
Looking up into a night sky of stars can evoke wonder, awe and mystery in us.?
It also brings on our pattern recognition abilities as our visual processing skills ‘connect the dots’ or join things that present as a potential pattern.?
The world presents us with clues, tips, hints and whispers; we seek connections and patterns — whether we’re conscious of it or not.?
Next time you see the night sky, remember that across cultures, yes, we have historical stories for the shapes we see.?
And new research shows we also have visual processing abilities that make sense of the stars — or asterisms — in very similar ways.?
We are pattern finding animals for sure.?
Imagine if we used these pattern seeking skills more deliberately in our daily life : looking for trends and better connecting themes and threads?
It’s a skill worthy of further enhancing so that it becomes more accessible everyday … not just on a starry starry night.?
Want to learn more? We may not be stargazing but we’ll most certainly build our trend spotting and Sensemaking skills in a 2-3 hour workshop — available in person or online.?
Bring the team together for a Visual Sensemaking workshop. It’s practical, insightful, creative … and highly enjoyable. And it ignites our pattern recognition skills for better learning and decision making.?Details here?... then get in touch.
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The clunky middle
New ways of doing things can be a real pain!?It’s easier to slip back to the old ways we know so well.?
Yet newer ways can hold efficiencies, creativities and insights that old ways don’t.?
Speaking to and working with teams on better ways of working gives me an opportunity to see so many people approach, assess, experiment and discover the ‘clunky middle’, as I call it.?
It’s where we haven’t committed a new skill, technique or way of working to habit, and we can frequently wonder if all this clunkiness is worth it.?
There’s always so much other stuff to do rather than introduce new tools and methods to our work, collaboration, communication or leadership.?
But as this?Harvard Business Review?article suggests, to ‘get better’ at something requires us to realise we “will not get better if:
1. you don’t want to?
and?
2. you aren’t willing to feel the discomfort of doing things differently.”
The new can be hugely uncomfortable. Great leaders are therefore allowing plenty of time to help people settle in to new, better and different ways of working.?
And they’re also incredibly understanding and empathetic when new ways are tricky, trying or frustrating … initially … in the pursuit of better.?
Thanks to the?Peter Bregman’s wonderful thinking and writing here
It’s a reminder to expect and allow the clunkiness as you explore the new and better.?
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Oooh that's it for another week; don't they go fast!
Lynne
Lynne Cazaly is a work futurist and expert in better ways of thinking and working.?
She is an international keynote?speaker?and award winning author with her ideas and thoughts?published in 10 books.?She consults, trains and speaks to leaders, teams and businesses guiding them through their adoption of new and creative ways of thinking and working as they respond to changes in the world.?
Read more at?www.lynnecazaly.com