There’s a Connection Between Geography and Structure

Did you know that New Zealand is a country made up of two islands? I had no idea until I was on a plane enroute to its capital, Auckland. (Geography is not my strength!) It was at a time in my life when I was having my own “Eat, Love, Pray” adventure. Earlier that month, I had spent some time on a dude ranch in Wyoming, a week in Ecuador, and now I was heading to New Zealand. I was also stepping out of my comfort zone and my cozy Type A personality: I had no plans whatsoever except for my plane reservations into and out of the country.?

Do you know what ensued? Total panic! I arrived at 6:30am, survived customs, and then tried to figure out what to do next. I bought a ticket for a hop-on, hop-off bus to get to know the city and after that, I was lost. This was 15 years ago when I didn’t have much of a budget, so I got a hostel – which was the first time I had ever planned a stay at a hostel. Fortunately, they had a single room so I figured that it would be doable. As I walked around the city, I started spiraling in my head: “What am I doing?!! How can I not have a plan?!! Why am I being so ridiculous?!!” In my panicky state of mind, I ditched the hostel and splurged on a nice hotel room up the street. I went to a bookstore and bought a travel book for New Zealand and mapped out a very loose plan. I got up the next morning and bought a 2-week bus pass. I took the bus to the next town and found a place to stay (a hostel – which I actually did stay at this time!). I spent the next morning hiking and then I took the bus to the next town. That is how the following two weeks went: I would take the bus to the next town, walk around, take a hike, and visit the eateries that the locals populated. I worked my way all the way down to Queenstown on the southern part of the south island and then secured a cheap plane ticket back to Auckland. I found that I loved traveling this way and it’s often what I do now when I launch a new trek in an unknown place: make a loose plan and figure it out along the way.?

I thought of this often during my recent work to reform Colorado’s behavioral health system. When I stepped into my role in 2019, I was inundated with questions: What was my plan? What made me think this was doable when it had been tried before? Who would be involved? How were we going to be inclusive? How did we think we were going to draft a plan in 13 months? Where were we going to start? The questions went on and on. I often felt like I was on repeat: “We don’t know yet. We’re still figuring that out.”?

I’m grateful that I’ve become comfortable with ambiguity. I now embrace the uncertainty and risk. (Well, for the most part!) I can adapt and problem-solve along the way. (Read more here on the power of ambiguity.) While I often, if not always, have a loose plan, the flexibility to change course as we unearth more data and hear from our partners means that we will have a better system in the end.