Everything is changing.
Where we’ll land, who knows. We’re living through truly unusual - coronavirus times. When I ‘zoom out’, I see Mother Earth, healing and humanity in its complete diversity, with a lot of community, actually. When I ‘zoom in’, I see statistics, scenarios, franticness, fragility, boldness, boredom and a lot more. A lot to take in.
Everything has changed.
I'm in a country in ‘intelligent lockdown and a 1,5meter society’. Ways of working previously unimagined, from homes with children in the background or on people’s laps, from bedrooms, attics. Online learning, taking tests from home, from one’s bedroom. Saying goodbye without a real possibility of saying goodbye. Grieving in inconceivable – inhumane? - ways. Keeping physical distance, no handshakes, no hugs, no high fives. Let alone a kiss. Online birthday parties and virtual cocktail drinks.
What will change?
Nobody knows. Balancing between dark and light. As my friend and #FictionFriday partner-in-crime David wrote recently ‘Talk about afterwards if you want; but don’t expect it to mean much. After what? We don’t even know what the what is yet.’ The good news is, quoting Yuval Harari: ‘The fundamentals of human nature won’t change.’ In an interview with James Corden Harari said ‘the creation of our future is in our own hands. It is not predetermined. The choices are ours. We are social animals. Previous pandemics did not change us either.’
I have been a Yuval Harari fan since the arrival of his book Homo Sapiens. I’m glad he’s become ‘a household name’. Harari thinks the next couple of weeks are going to be fundamental. Decisions that will be taken during the next couple of weeks will determine our future. He believes that we are in a better position than ever to deal with both the virus itself and its root causes. However, and that is where Harari was rather ‘bleak’, the fact that we lack international cooperation, global solidarity and political wisdom is making this all very challenging.
When I take that in, it makes me go into a surge of emotions. It reminds me of what my friend Tom described to me last week, of going through a wave of emotions that takes one from flow to desire to obligation to survival to impossible.
And back up again? Yes, I zoom out.
I think about my work as an adviser and coach. How I suggest to people to embrace the pain, welcome fear. Lean in and sense. Sense profoundly. Listen to your inner demons. As Otto Scharmer teaches us: to move forward, get to the ‘other side, one needs to go through the downward curve, the U’.
The realisation that we are not alone makes a huge difference.
Together we can find strength during this time of crisis. Can we? Are you able to take time to reflect and connect? With loved ones, those close to you and co-workers? Does the engagement work online which makes ‘sensing one another’ different? Do you work through the questions of ‘what might be’; discuss various scenarios?
Words might fail us, particularly in very stressful (or perceived as such) periods, so it’s good to realise that even online we are able to explore issues, scenarios, fears and the like without using too many words. There are tools one can use that work even during online sessions. Very powerful to know.
I think about my conviction that stories matter, the need for a common narrative.
It’s actually one of Harari’s beliefs, that we need stories to make sense of the world. It is, therefore, very important to be sensitive about the way we describe what’s happening right now and where we are heading. Online magazine Grist wrote beautifully about ‘better ways to talk about a pandemic’. The more I read the ‘economic depression that is coming’, the more convinced I am that we are going to ‘invite it upon us’.
So, shall we change the story and build another story architecture?
That can work for you as an individual or for the company/organisation. What roles could we all fulfil, or play, in that story? Great stories take the use of archetypes into account. That means we could explore the archetypes. Which archetypes appeal to you and why? Which ones do you recognise, or fear? What does that mean for creating the story and addressing the way forward?
We can get through. We’ll have to. It’s about the ‘how’. We all contribute, ultimately and eventually. Let’s see if we can find strength and build on the wisdom we have. I have been thinking about some lessons that I have learned over the years:
- solutions will come from a ‘multi-disciplinary approach and diverse teams’
- ‘poets, philosophers, psychologists will create transformation’ (Gus Speth)
- the need for a new common narrative
I would love for you to contact me to explore this, for yourself and/or with your team(s). I have time or will make time. Online sessions work fine, particularly considering the circumstances. If you are based in Amsterdam, we might be able to meet somewhere outside and keep the required distance: ‘explore, coach and create whilst walking’. First session comes for free, as that is meant for us to explore.