The Burning Campgrounds of Change

Lake top ripples light and dark respond in every direction to the newly stirred up breeze, as do the bees trying to land and the brightly coloured wood ducks attempting to launch.

As children, the wind on the street was a friend as well as a foe as we perched umbrellas at the top of the hill and chased them where they wanted to go. My legs and laughter took me up and down that hill to my best friend’s house.

Each nature-based scenario lends itself to micro moments of action that mirror our own because we come from nature. Events stir up breezes in our lives, we land strategically or by fluke, each time brightly coloured by the poetic beauty of hope and survival.

Duality: Comfort and expansion co-existing

Science tells us that we are hard-wired for connections and our neuropathways are happy that way. We hold on to those comfortable neuropathways as if holding on will keep us comfortable and safe. The other part of the same conversation is that we reach fulfilment by stretching that comfort zone and reaching new levels of accomplishment. In fact, it’s put forward by neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman that if there is only one thing he wants people to know about the brain it is that stretching your comfort zone to achieve difficult things makes your brain the happiest.

Can you think of a time you moved away from a shoreline and life changed? What about when you were pushed and found yourself tumbling into a life-quake (a time where you have no choice but to recalibrate your life) coined by Bruce Feiler? Did you curl up at first, and then stretch out? What happened after you stretched out?

What actually happens when the breeze of change comes?

So, what actually happens when you make an intentional choice to reach for another pathway, experience new survival tactics, or create a new story with someone or something that is made up of many micro moments?

In the micro moments are conscious or unconscious choices. You choose to connect, disconnect, reconnect, surrender, and or accept in any given moment.

A burning platform

A ’burning platform’ is a term used in Change Management to describe when one cannot go back to the original way of doing things no matter what. A burning platform is not a type of change you want people to go through. It is much better to have buy-in, collaboration, and a shared vision so that the change is as positive as it can be and not threatening or traumatic. Sometimes this has to be done, such as when Covid hit, but other choices are better.

Resistance to … camping

I had not gone camping in 31 years before last weekend. Yes, 31 years! I am the first person to put my hand up when it comes to wanting to be outside, but camping was out of my wheelhouse of comfort.

We make intentional changes when there is something we value more than what we are holding onto in our current state. I love camaraderie with a mix of solitude, nature, and good campfire food. Sparkling water is my favourite thing to stop and stare at, and who wants to pass up a cozy tent in the middle of nowhere? “Yes,” I thought. “I value those things more than my discomfort.”

"We park our cars here on the shore, then we take canoes along the peninsula to the campground," my new outdoorsy friends told me.

“Gulp,” I involuntarily blurted out like a word rather than a bodily sound.

As a Change professional, I knew what was coming. This was a burning platform. Civilization was being left behind me…

Pulling away from the shore in our canoe, I recognized that there were not any modern facilities on the other side to keep me comfortable..in the woods.

Yes outdoorsy friends, I value you and this experience more than my discomfort! Thank you for being so patient!

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What did I learn?

The burning platform was not really a burning platform. My love of nature and the outdoors and my interest in learning from my new friends had set the foundation for my next steps.? I had also prepared myself with my own methods to make the journey better for myself. Having my own methods made me feel like I had some sense of control (safety), much to the chagrin of my comrades.

In the end, I did share many laughs and good food, and I am pretty sure I will be invited to go camping again, with a few more refinements. I also realized that I was over dramatizing the burning platform because I had been prepared along the way over the course of the 31 years since I had been camping before.

The workplace

If you are thinking of using a burning platform at work, is it really a burning platform? Look for the ways you can ease into change for your teams. They will appreciate it… Like my camping friends and I did.

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Samantha Fowlds M.Sc., CMP (APMG)

Samantha Fowlds is a Change professional implementing complex change initiatives at the individual and corporate level. She has a Master of Science degree in Knowledge Management and Consultancy and completed Graduate courses in Applied Positive Psychology & Coaching Psychology. She is also an Adult Educator and Individual and Group Coach. While labeled a “Scaredy cat” by her children, she has actually proven time and again that change is not scary..it’s only change. ~ Please reach out for Coaching, Consulting, or Advisory Services via LinkedIn or www.samanthafowlds.com ?