“What if?”; “Why not?”; “Who says?”
These are my favorite questions to master in the face of change. The “tsunami of a year” we had presented the chance for mastery. Since flux is still very present, mastery is still very possible.
Times of change are full of possibilities. I have watched clients improv, start new businesses, and recover shattered dreams because now is the time and place. For others, time tested business models are facing unprecedented upheaval. Times of change can also be full of fear. I know fear well.
I was the type of kid you could not leave alone in a room for too long. I would run out screaming for dear life. “What if?” was not a very comforting question. Our mental movies can play out horrible scenarios, especially in times of transition.
Still, it is no secret our world has shifted. Global and disruptive challenges have impacted the delivery of services and products while redefining the workforce. While this is obvious, where we are going is not. Whether real or imagined, it can feel as though we are running for our lives on a treadmill of fear.
How does it work? Personally and professionally, for me, it works this way. When considering challenges or change, the first question is “What if things could be done differently or seen from another perspective?” or “What if there are assumptions that need to be examined, or verified?” What data or insights does that provide? Then I ask, “Why not consider X, Y, or Z possibilities?”
I assess those scenarios by considering the last question. “Who says?” Who says it cannot be done? Why do they say so? What would hinder or impede progress? Has this been thwarted in the past? These are baseline questions that allow an ariel view of any problem. With these answers, I have gotten closer to considering what is possible and hopeful.
Hope is more of a journey than a destination. I don’t need any one scenario to work out because iteration and improvisation are the twin engines of managing change. It is not survival of the fittest; it is survival of the adaptable. This is a generational-less perspective owned by the mindset that welcomes change.
I heard a line from the X-Files that said “a dream is an answer to a question we have not yet learned to ask.” Part of my passion is helping clients ask questions and find the answers that transform people and projects from confusion to clarity, idea to implementation, from dream to development.
I leave you with this. In his book, Rules of Thumb, Alan Webber writes: “These are extraordinary times. In our work, our lives, and everything in between, we are witnessing change that is so fast and unpredictable that our first challenge is simply to make sense of it. […] The time has come to rethink, reimagine, and recalibrate what is possible, what is desirable, what is sustainable. It’s time to rewrite the rules.”
In these times, I have decided to choose adventure over apprehension, to ask questions, and when appropriate, to rewrite the rules. My favorite statement in the face of fear is to be “romanced by the unknown, excited by uncertainty, and suspended by the grace of God.
Better than running scared any day.
