ARE WE NOTICING THE CHANGES THAT ARE CHANGING US’?

When change happens slowly, we don’t seem to notice while it’s happening. Sometimes, we don’t even look back, let alone realize, how much things have changed.

For example, for those of you who remember Fax machines, do you remember a specific date when we stopped faxing people documents, or letters, and sent them by email instead??

I don’t. Faxing sort of just slipped out one door, inch by inch, while email crept in another, inch by inch, until the former was ‘then’ and the latter was ‘now’.? And that was a pretty big change at the time, don’t you think?

If we look back, we can see that historically, even major changes usually took some time to fully transition. Think about the Industrial Revolution. The advent of the steam engine and rail travel. The motor car completely replacing horse and buggy. Even the personal use of computers took some time. As did common use of cell phones. The demise of the traditional ‘Mom and Pop’ shops replaced by Big Box Stores took at least a decade.

But things are speeding up. Have you noticed lately that major changes happen almost overnight??

The sudden shift from working in an office to working from home was implemented within mere weeks. Basic A.I., already used for years in various automations, albeit less visibly, seemed to evolve overnight into a highly advanced technology featured daily in current news headlines.

How many of us have stepped back from the constant pressures of daily life and really assessed just how much our world has changed in a few short years? How many of us have struggled with the realization that the world we live in is a completely different place to the world we were born into?

And yet, the biggest changes, personally and in our work environment don’t come with a user manual, a self-help ‘how to’ book, or a historical sequence we can look to for guidance. If we, as leaders, find it necessary to chart a new course to navigate into the future mindfully and courageously, we can be sure that our team members are similarly challenged. How do we chart a successful route and how do we help our team members to do the same??

I think it comes down to these simple actions:

- Critical thinking: take time away from distractions to think about and write down the changes that are affecting us. This is the first step in getting to grips with things that feel as if they’re beyond our control, and are overwhelming. Write down why we feel these things are out of our control and overwhelming and then assess whether or not we do, in fact, have options. Once this is done, then examine:

-? Core Values / Belief Systems: Again, this is something we should think about, examine and write down. What are our personal ‘non-negotiables’ and why? How do these relate to the things we’ve identified in the critical thinking exercise above. Is there a conflict? Is there a synergy? Do these things threaten, or support, our core values and belief system?

- Desired Outcomes: Feeling out of control and overwhelmed often means either, that we feel our desired outcomes, or core values and belief systems, are threatened. Or, that we haven’t clarified what any of these look like. This, therefore, can make us feel like tumbleweed blowing here and there in the wind.? It’s important for us to know what our desired outcomes are in order to chart a route and navigate towards them.

The good news is that we can do this.?

The not-so-good news is that it’s up to us to work through these steps to define where we’re at, what we want and how we’re going to achieve this. The good news is that as soon as we work through these steps, it will eliminate a lot of the stress and anxiety we might be experiencing and give us a sense of taking back the control we’ve felt we’ve lost.

As leaders, we need to do this for ourselves and for our team members, for a better future and a better work environment.

We can’t advise and mentor our teams through a process that we haven’t gone through ourselves. Change isn’t going to stop happening. We can’t be passive and follow the route of least resistance. No one else can do this for us, just as we can’t do this for someone else.

How do we begin??

Well, if you have Optevo , set aside some time, mute your notifications, then make a list of what we’ve discussed in ‘Tasks’, or ‘Quick Notes’ - which, by the way, aren’t visible to anyone else in your WorkPod. Then begin working through each point.? After all, Optevo is about simplifying your day so that you have time for the rest of your life as well as work.?That alone helps alleviate the overwhelm!

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions to add to what I’ve said, or improve on it? I’d love to hear if you do!

#TakeBackYourLife #FutureOfWork