Essentials in Today’s Daily Grind – Shaking Up Your Thinking to Survive in the “New Norm”

Who among us would have thought that in 2019, the entire world would experience a once-a-century shakeup, a public health crisis, with the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic? That experience, and its continuation as an annoyance for some and life-threatening for others, has changed everyone on the planet and placed us in a situation where we are asking, “what’s next?”.?

The world of work is not exempt. On top of personal challenges, we’ve seen an acceleration of remote learning and working, the use of technology to make that possible, shut downs or limited services because of ill employees or lock-downs.?Physical and mental tele-health has jumped to a new level, and we’ve been faced with the fact that, although we want to think we are in charge, there is an undeniable inter-connectivity and interdependence to our world.??The environment we are functioning in has elements of the disruptive to say the least.

Within a year of the break of the pandemic in 2020, a mental health professional described it to me like this:?“even those of us who have a strong support system, have stayed healthy and perhaps even avoided losing a family member or friend to COVID, or have a stable enough life to never really consciously consider “self-care”, feel unspoken anxiety and tension, a distraction.?It’s as though there is a constant tapping on our shoulder, whether we are focused primarily on it or not.?The mental health professionals at the Mayo Clinic acknowledge as we all should recognize this type of “stress as a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life [for us humans] . . . it’s normal to feel stress and worry during a crisis.”?Being aware of this persistent pressure is essential for you to function with good mental health. Without new strategies, that stress could create a crisis of its own in our lives.

Let’s drill down to this one facet many professionals struggle with related to this stress -- how to function in this unsettled “still looking-as-though-through-a-fog” new reality and address the challenges of managing ourselves, our responsibilities, and our time in uncertainty. ?I admit, in my 6th decade, after several successful careers, I thought I knew how to navigate the workplace and its challenges, but what worked in the past is no longer sufficient.?I’m on a quest to find what works NOW!

When faced with a challenge, the first thing I do is increase my learning and education. ?I’d encourage you to do the same.?I hope I can introduce you to some sources of information to consider which may be new to you in the business world and give you insight into some new ideas I'm using.

Years ago as I began to study Jean Piaget’s research cognitive development in children and on adaptation (within the field of education), I learned that it is our ability to adjust to new information and experiences that allows us to adopt new behaviors (habits) and cope with change.?Many scientists have applied that to adult learning as well. Uncertainty creates a moment in time when adaptation becomes critical for our professional and personal growth. Don't let that scare you; it's a chance to grow and improve.

Never assume your established abilities and habits will still work in this new norm.?Search out experts and research, look for those in similar industries to yours and look across sectors for patterns of success.?This collective human experience and knowledge accelerates our adapting to new circumstances.?Sadly, there is no instruction manual.?Hopefully reading about what I’ve discovered and what is driving my pondering, choices, and applications as I navigate forward will help you.?Let me know if you find value here too.

1)????A fixed mindset that believes that what worked in the past will still work is na?ve and a formula for frustration.?It may feel “safe” but prevents us from growing and adapting.?Ultimately in this face-paced changing world, it will put us behind.?Recognize that to rely on “I’ve been doing this for X years” is less meaningful when the terrain is different.? Decide you will open and flex your mind to new possibilities.

To succeed, leaders must acknowledge we’re all in “start-up mode”, even if we are leading or involved in an established company. ?Start-ups require new innovative visions supported by an efficient-for-today operational plan/model, smart goals, flexibility, and data-driven evaluation.?No more “let’s keep following the “trusted” model.?Embrace individuals on your team that bring a diversity of thought to planning and problem solving.?They are assets.

2)????Now is the time to put emotional reactions in their place.?Becoming aware of an emotional reaction (a part of our humanity) is the first step.?Even individuals with strong emotional intelligence or those who, like me, recognize that feelings can quickly rise to the surface and be unreliable at times, do not have to be controlled by them. Feelings are to be acknowledged, but don’t have to drive actions.?I learned years ago about the value of “meta-cognition”, thinking about thinking. ?Dr. Marilyn Price Mitchell, a developmental psychologist, says it this way, “the function of meta-cognition and self-reflection is to make meaning” and from meaning comes solutions.? ?

3)????Acknowledge feelings exist and mentally set them aside to clear your heads for decision-making.?Uncertainty can open the door for an emotional reaction, but it’s not productive.?When left without redirection, feelings swirl and deepen and can even lead to disfunction or depression.?When that panic instinct kicks in (our genetic “fright or flight”), STOP.?Look at what might initially be scary as an opportunity and turn it to your advantage.

Train yourself to shift your mind, when you first sense that uneasiness, to messaging like “I acknowledge this was unexpected, but there are solutions”, “who can I connect with to give me insight?”, or “what’s the right amount of time to dedicate to this ‘shift’ without procrastinating?”.?Think productivity, problem-solving, and persistence.?

4)????Nassim Nicholas Taleb, an academic who addresses research on uncertainty says, “don’t aim for to be perfect – aim to be antifragile”.??That’s a new term to me, but great advice.?Think of the opposite of fragile:?robust, sound, durable.?When we change our mindset and gain new information, we can embrace the new, exploring how it influences the current, and what adaptations are necessary.?

5)????Look at both new information you are learning from and the practiced standard approaches currently used with a skeptic’s eye. That's typically where innovation, a better way of doing things comes from. And the "unexpected" is a natural place for an innovation door to open. Don't think you are an innovator or can come up with new ideas? Build a team of creative individuals who think differently than you.

My rule of thumb is to find independent perspectives or studies that prove the same hypothesis as part of exploration. ?Question if a different approach will bring improved results.?Explore the options and risks.?Keep all this in mind so you aren’t led into unfounded unproductive solutions simply under the guise of trying something new or different.

My final advice - abandon the myth that you know everything you need to by age 40. The growth and success you will experience as you open your mind to new possibilities is also good for your mental health. For future reading, try out these additional resources:

Meta-Cognition - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics Sharpening our Meta-Cognition by Understanding what it is and how to harness it for improved results

Adaptation in Psychology: Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development (verywellmind.com)

Time Management Principles in a Post Pandemic World (bbntimes.com) – by Benjamin Hendrix of Linkedin

A review of Peter Drucker's Seven Sources of Innovation: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/7-sources-innovation-thomas-slaughter/