Are you feeling surprisingly agitated as we contemplate “opening things up?”
A return to some semblance of our pre-pandemic normal is suddenly more confusing than the abnormal we’d gotten used to.
We were sure that once we got through the pandemic – got to the vaccines, got to warm weather, got to herd immunity, got back to normal – we could relax.
Awww…our human brains are so cute sometimes.
The idea that we will “get through” change is one of the many ridiculous remnants of a language that was designed for a completely different age. The Industrial Age, in which most of us worked on assembly lines and just about everything could be explained from a mechanistic point of view, is vastly removed from our current age, and yet we continue to use the language from that long-ago time. (We’re actually so confused about what’s happening now that we don’t really even have an agreed-upon name for this age – perhaps it will only become clear looking back.)
As alternative language for our current whatever-it’s-called-age, I propose that we think about living IN change instead of “getting through” change.
We are living IN change and we will, as far as the eye can see, always be living IN change. The changes are of varying shapes, sizes, scale and scope, but Change (with an intentional capital C) is constant and becoming more rapid.
So how do we cope?
“Paradox as a path forward” is the subtitle of the 2020 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report, which polled nearly 9,000 business and HR leaders in 119 countries. The report contains some interesting observations and predictions. It also highlights some of the key gaps between what we need to do and how equipped we feel to do it. (News flash…some of the gaps are pretty big!)
Over the course of this month, I’ll be pulling some key insights from the report – bite-sized pieces if you will – and adding thoughts and questions to make it useful as you consider how you’re thriving IN change (or not).
My first rumination is based on the sub-title of the report: “Paradox as a path forward.”
The question is: What is paradox and how is it showing up in your world?
The definition of paradox, according to the (omniscient) Google is: “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.”
First of all, anytime I can work the word “absurd” into my Forbes column, I’m a happy camper.
Second, yes! Understanding the paradoxes that we’re living with is an important tool for navigating IN change. (I am intentionally capitalizing IN over and over again… new language needs to be obvious for a while.)
How might it be helpful to recognize the paradoxes with which we’re living?
Our brains struggle with in-betweens; we prefer yes or no, this or that, black or white. Often, to get to “an answer,” our brains take seemingly innocuous shortcuts that cause us to miss vast pieces of information.
Female tourist walking in the forest along Tamolitch Falls trail.
getty
Recognizing the paradoxes helps us expand our brains to hold the tension of opposites.
An easy formula is to think of statements that don’t make sense together and put them together:
I’m happy that we’re opening up AND it’s totally confusing me and making me weirdly sad.
I really missed seeing people in person during the pandemic AND now that I can see people in person, I’m not sure I want to.
I built that great office space so that everyone could be together and have a great place to work AND now I don’t want to go there.
See how easy this is?
And now the hard part … what to do with the paradoxes?
Try just sitting with them.
Yep, just let them be.
If I was “getting through” change, I would feel compelled to prioritize one or the other or to call one ridiculous and dismiss it.
In fact, both statements are true. I did miss people and now I’m not sure I want to see them. Neither of those positions is better or more important than the other; they just are. Navigating IN change allows space for opposites to co-exist.
Try naming some of the things in your personal and professional worlds that don’t make sense together; you may find it reassuring.
Did you notice the paradox in that!?
Up next? BELONGING
