It is the human condition to try make sense of something, it is also something of a human trait to resist change. The pandemic and now a new variant are testing some of the most exacting scientists and virologists on the planet and for those of us that like a bit of order and rational, rigorous thinking, let alone those of us that are less bothered, there is no doubt it has been a challenge.
There is much talk and reference about returning to ‘normal’ whatever that is, or ever was, but perhaps we would do better to look towards expecting the unexpected despite it being an inherent contradiction.
To thrive in uncertainty, innovation and our creativity is more important than ever. If we can learn to embrace and learn to be surprised by the unexpected or even delight in it, we will set ourselves on a new path and creativity will flourish.
We have to purposefully overcome our natural tendency to see just what we expect to see and actively look for the unexpected, by choosing to notice; people, buildings or our surroundings in a more expansive way. In the same way that when we are thinking about say buying a yellow coat, we see hundreds of people in yellow coats, those hard times when a relationship breaks down, we seem to see tender moments between people everywhere. It is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, a cognitive bias that means when we notice something new, there is a tendency to notice it more often. Suddenly, you’re aware of that thing all over the place. In reality, there’s no increase in occurrence, it’s just that you’ve started to notice it. When we learn to notice more, professionally and personally, by definition we have more information and more opportunity to learn and grow especially if we’re noticing more of the good stuff.
Pushing past our own limitations is the key professionally and personally to turning things around. We all know the expression if you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.
Which brings me to ‘All I want for Christmas… ‘ apart from it being a favourite song and tenet of ‘Love Actually’, another favourite. If there is one thing that we should try to take into the new year or start doing, it is all about YOU! Fatigue and exhaustion is at an all-time high, or maybe that should be low depending on how we look at it. Therefore noticing you, making time and space for you and those moments of recharge or revitalise that will make all the difference. We can’t be there for everybody unless we’re also there for ourselves, be that family, friends, bosses, stakeholders, shareholders, clients or customers. We all know this, but that doesn’t mean that we actually do it! As with creativity, we just have to start.
You never know you might surprise yourself.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful New Year. Very much look forward to catching up and/ or collaborating in 2022.
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