How 10 yoga studios in 10 days helped me fight corporate change fatigue.
Battle Fatigue.
“Here we go again...” Can you feel the eye roll in the room? Another all important 'Transformation' meeting that took months to organise, and a whole three slides to kill.
“Really? Again?"
It’s true. Businesses continue to fight a losing battle in the era of corporate reinvention. Forbes calls out that at least 70% of transformation efforts are failing due to what’s know as ‘Battle Fatigue’. Where through multiple failed attempts, people mentally, emotionally and eventually physically check out of whatever vision of the future they were promised.
People, yes the humans you work with (and maybe you as well) are tired and even traumatised from the recent monumental change efforts companies are putting in place. Where change is the new constant operating model. Where the three words of ‘I don’t know.’ is becoming more and more common place, spoken or felt.
10 Yoga Studios + 10 Days = 5 Lessons Felt
Recently I went to 10 different yoga studio in London in 10 consecutive days. In class, on the mat, with a mind to understand what this community is trying to impart to its practitioners. To understand a bit better how an 80 billion dollar industry equips humans with balance in today's world.
It was hot, challenging, humbling and reaffirmed the uncomfortable truth that companies don’t transform, people do. And THAT is hard, sweaty, meaningful work. The longer a company avoids this truth, the more likely ‘Battle Fatigue’ will turn to ‘Battle Casualties’.
"Through complex movement your mind is asked to be fully present, in that you find flow" - Another Space, Covent Garden
There were dozens of insights and teachings, but here are five that will resonate with me for years to come.
1 - From being managed to managing oneself.
Let's accept that if your company isn't reinventing on a regular basis, it's already falling behind, and you with it.
Organisations of all sizes are trying incredibly hard to create some sense of stability for their people. Instinctually we don't like uncertainty or change, which is a main factor of why we choose to work in stable employment roles. But, when you introduce instability into what is suppose to be a stable environment, all emotions tend to hi-jack the vibe.
To counter that, literally tons of resources are poured into managing people through the change. Making sure they get that fresh leadership, those upgraded tools, the latest technology, a dose of top notch SCRUM training, as well as a new corporate values to top it all off. But as we all know, a bigger, newer house doesn’t mean a happier home.
So, let me ask, what if companies focused on developing the person over the professional?
What if helping people grow as people first, took precedent over getting them to adopt the latest internal 'Agile Way of Working'?
What if people had the tools that they need so they can self rescue from their environment, instead of waiting to be rescued by the latest version of JIRA. Or the latest external executive hire?
In a world where being managed by your management holds little security, we must be more prepared to stop looking to others around us hoping for the solution, and start looking inward and ask 'Why am I here and what is it that I really want to do?' Which is a FAR more frightening thing to do, but is the better problem to have because it means you are starting to take ownership of you.
2 - The lessons you feel are the lessons learn.
Heart pumping, sweat dripping we were sitting back in Childs Pose. And the instructor says,
"We spend so much time being negative about our bodies, what we can't do... Let's take just a moment to be grateful for what we can do." - FLY LDN
The instructor was dropping mini wisdom bombs on us, and being physically drained makes you more open to insight and truths. The skeptic is exhausted. It is here that Yoga (and other forms of strong movement) teach the lessons that stick with people.
It's true, we learn through doing. That experiencing the work (like 60 mins of 38 degree Yoga) closes the gap between comprehension of what Flying Crow is in theory, and the ownership of trying to make it happen, learning what needs to change so it can work for you. Ownership of lessons are something you have to earn, they sink deep and echo for years, because you understand them, you've felt them and they have showed you where the progress is to be found.
Of course this works both ways.
People who suffer from Battle Fatigue, will eventually learn that they are helpless to the change around them. They effectively feel the powerlessness of their situation and in turn they 'learn helplessness'. They embody the exact opposite lesson than the company change effort is trying to achieve! (FACEPALM EMOJI)
If your organisational change effort is mired in helplessness, your people don't need another deck, or trip to the Pub or even a team building day. They need to unlearn helplessness. Experiencing and manifesting success and progress in their lives. They need a win, however small that is. And if they can't get that at work, they will get give up and get it somewhere else.
3 - You can't rush meaningfulness.
As much as the corporate well-being movement is something that is sorely needed, let's be ever mindful that we don't try to 'over incorporate' the eastern truths that have served others so well for hundreds of years.
Otherwise we'll just engineer the meaningfulness right out of the method, and end up with yet another silo with another director with yet another P/L to manage.
The more western science find words and research that help us be comfortable with the idea professional growth requires us to deal with the person behind the title, the more we'll have to acceptance new models of working with each other. That we'll have to deal with the gritty nature of life, and that how a person lives their life directly translates into what are like to work with. And the more senior that person is, the greater the ripple travels through the culture and the work.
That said, it must be noted that we can't mass produce something that’s meant to be deeply meaningful.
"Find comfort in the discomfort. This is life." -Frame, Shoreditch
As the Advice and Well Being industry continues to rise let’s not get stuck in the trap of ‘How do we scale this?'. Rather can we ask the question, 'How can we make it more meaningful?'
In in my 10 days, I noted that the bigger Yoga operations, the ones that had more of a cookie cutter approach had the least impact for me. That for me, a dose of danger is needed, something that pushes me to the point where all I can do is focus on what I'm doing right at that moment. If the practice was over-sanitised, it lost its edge, it lost its connection to reality, and reality is dangerous.
Make your change efforts meaningful by focusing on quality and connection to reality, not scale. That helping people feel important and cared for in a world that holds danger and risk for them, is what leads to meaningful breakthroughs.
4 - A "Work Life Balance" = Your Life's work unbalanced
Everything is connected. And the trope of 'work life balance' has always struck me as an awkward idea.
It seems to me that most people's lives are very full. Family, friends, life admin, financial needs etc etc. Pile on top of that a day job that is being re-scoped every two weeks, would created unsustainable pressure for any one individual.
Constant change 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at home and in the office. #mylife
In this reality, it can only serves each individual to learn how to self rescue from these situations, because the truth is, everyone (including senior management) is trying to figure it out. So the hope that someone else is going to help you find what you need, is no longer a tenable strategy. You have to start investing in yourself, but to do that you need to know what you're investing in.
The greatest gift you can give a company in the midst of transformation is for you to know who you are, and start creating your life's work. The thing that you are going to be proud of 10, 20, 30, 50 years from now. The work that you will want people to remember you by. The work that will make the biggest difference to those you care about, and those around you.
Any leader who doesn't want that from you, or at least help you start that journey, is definitely the wrong kind of leader for you. Because doing your Life's work is you at maximum value, and that won't be found if what you're working for is a balance between your work and your life.
I can't stress enough, this is the hardest kind of work, but it's also the most meaningful. Please take your time. Start the journey because it won't happen by itself or overnight.
"Take as many breathes as you need to get to where you are going." -Yotopia, Covent Garden
5 - Your actual boss doesn't talk to you about your Project Timelines or Deck Craft.
They help you, talk about you.
Yoga Instructor, Personal Trainer, Life Coach, Church Leader, Dance Coach, Sensei or Hip Hop Instructor. Chances are you are feeling more connection and wisdom from those relationships, than from the 'weekly check-in's' with your boss, manager or lead. (Not to say that's not important to do too)
Your real boss talks to you, about you. Relationships where life experience is shared will lift you. It will help you realise how you are stopping yourself from doing the right kind of work. Or help you solve the more relevant problem and see the bigger picture or asking the better question of yourself and the people you're working with.
'Dharma Wisdom' is a term that is used in Yoga, which refers to insights or knowledge that is shared during a practice, and often these are questions, prompts or stories help you look inward and identify what it is that you're holding onto and holding you back. Perhaps it's a previous boss who was overly hard on your presentation skills, and since then you've always been extra sensitive to perfecting your presentations at the expense of your other work or life commitments.
Unfortunately conventional functions such as Human Resources or People & Culture teams too often fall short of providing this kind of heart felt guidance in organisations. Silos that serve other silos is why organisations needed to transform in the first place. We need a counter intuitive alternative to this 'Human' corporate mindset, and it requires an organic network of people in an organisation who deeply care for their teams, who also have the tools and time to focus on meaningfulness, not scale. Through meaningfulness, scale will come.
If you've been lucky enough to work with someone who has taken an interest in your personal growth, then you know the kind of people I'm talking about.
"We spend so much time doing, it's OK to spend a little time just being." - Re:Centre, Hammersmith
Five Lessons Felt Recap
- Management of self is the new Management.
- The lessons you feel are the lessons learn.
- You can't rush meaningfulness.
- A "Work Life Balance" = Your Life's work unbalanced.
- Your real boss talks to you, about you.
For more on how we connect personal growth to professional growth check out The Dojo or get in touch with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Shout out to all the amazing studios in London who brought the sweat and wisdom. Check em out and be prepared to sweat!
Producer at Midwinter Films, Freelance Project Manager & Coordinator
5 年Great read Tony, thanks x