Enjoy living 60 shades!
October 14th, 0700 Helsinki Airport ... School holidays, families with and without kids try to check in and get through security, moving out of Finland in search of some sunshine before the dark winter hits full force. Me, I'm on my way back from a four-day face-2-face training: got some new insights as well as extra worries.
Free Wi-Fi in the airport and thus, just read an article in "De Morgen" my morning newspaper about keeping your choices and beliefs consistent through life and the consequences this has. The article made me reflect and brought me back to my childhood. I remembered a letter that I kept over the years, giving us 18-year old’s the opportunity to give feedback openly to our fellow students. In those days, (in nowadays terms) we were quite direct, sometimes cruel, but fully transparent. My own thoughts / values at the time were mainly founded in the binary system: black or white ... and that's what my fellow students also noticed. Some just seemed to wonder where they could or would find some shades of grey, but I remained quite black and white, consistent in my thinking and doing ... predictable.
Over the years, additional shades were slowly added, I should not forget to mention the support of a coach hired by the company for this "young potential". The management noticed some opportunities and further development possibilities, but the sharp edges had to be smoothened a little. I agree I might not have always been the most pleasant co-worker to deal with and some still remember the discussions we had… however, my coach helped me big time and years later (15), we met again on an event. My coach for an afternoon (apparently, I could have booked several sessions, but after the first session I said "ok, I know what to do" ) she remembered the conversation vividly... Thank you, Tatiana, for what you did; a lot of listening and little talking, but then what you said propelled me along: "sometimes you have to jump even if you do not have all the information and security, see how you land and continue from there". She gave me a push, taught me to appreciate variances, different shades and to go with it… Once one enjoys different shades, one can break out from his/her fixed mindset and open the door to more opportunities. Once one allows oneself to break the barriers, one will enjoy surprises, change and a different life.
Of course, in uncertain moments, it is "comforting" to have solid anchors, but retreating too quickly often limits the experience, opportunities, interaction with others and finally the overall sense of achievement when one achieves something outside of the initial expectations. Being open to the opportunities will allow you to surprise yourself.
The saying: "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got ...". Until a couple of years ago I would have said "true" but now I see it differently.
In the globalized world we experience, one will, by keeping to the same, instill a lot of frustration in oneself and have difficulties to cooperate with the others. Keeping to the old ways would not be an issue, as long as one is amongst like-minded people, but we do live whether we want to or not, in an exponentially changing world (information, insights, press groups, immigration ...), where we continually collide with interests, insights and wishes that are different from what one considers "normal" or "standard". The world has closed in on us, the times when we “travelled to learn” have changed into "learning everyday".
Politically, we used to have a couple of parties, clearly distinguishable from each other. Later, we had a potpourri (everyone in the centre) and now we see smaller blocks or “splinter groups” added to the political arena, some of which disappear fast, others are here to stay. Depending on the continuum that the splinter groups can generate and their adaptability to the changing circumstances, they will challenge the historical blocks continuously, whereby the “established parties” need to take positions on questions they never had to think about before. Each time they do so, they need to take additional risks towards their own group and support base. And so it is also personal "adaptability" as a core competence, based on advancing insight that will become the norm.
That advancing insight can also get us into trouble ... when we love to maintain traditions, habits, processes, experiences, revelations, anchoring ... and anything that is constantly questioned is neither fun nor pleasant, but creates insecurities. For example, we think of the push for veganism, the push to ban diesel, the introduction of shopping streets & traffic plans, the call for soda in schools, the certainty that job insecurity becomes the norm ... the demand to continuously adapt / innovate, adhere to, adapt and consider and implement those that previously only involved invisible or minor groups ... it causes a lot of pressure on the individual, an individual who will either take the opportunity to change, dodge his own way or move to the extreme. It also creates a conflict where the individuals’ desire is further individualization, but where external factors ensure greater commonality.
Globalized globalization, globalized funds, the power of fast-paced people, also means less visible groups can become more visible and be heard more through mass channels to be able to achieve radical goals. In addition, if the silent majority remains silent, we get into a strange whirlpool, where only the extremes are heard ... so it's simple ... out of necessity "everyone is an activist"!
It will therefore be essential that communication about the social impact is taken care of, that active and passive information is spread on "what where when” things happen, how world visions and society evolve and why we, as a society, be it local, regional or national, move with or without the changes presented. After all, the "splinter groups" will take care of their own proliferation, but the alignment of these messages and the provisioning of a holistic view should come from a generally accepted institution, supported by the government, whichever “power” may be in office.
Looking back on the face-2-face training during the last week, change is here to stay ... how much we like and value stability. Yet stability, to what extent is it sustainable (or for how long) or even desirable? After all, if we get stability forever, what would you think of the following always being stable: work, relationships, insights, competencies, desires, quality ... what life would you have if you already know exactly what your work will consist of, up to the sub-procedure level, for the next 15 years/till retirement, or on how society judges and often condemns current relationship models or “regional ethics”?
So, sending out a warm call to embrace these changes presented and to knowingly, put your own accents. Your adaptability to embrace change will provide you with more understanding, relativity and gradual change. It's all about growing and, like "Rome was not built in a day...", we must respect ourselves and grow trust in ourselves. Let’s be consistently inconsistent and color our lives in 60 shades!