Flourishing Amidst Disruption

Let’s be clear: the situation many of us found ourselves at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was not a welcome one. It would be remiss not to acknowledge that the disruption to the lives we’ve built, the activities and routines we do to socialize and relax, and the industries we work in, create interconnected stress points for more people than ever before. Doubts can move in about the resiliency of our organizations and our own character. But there is hope.

Disruptions can reveal deficiencies we didn’t otherwise see before and allows us to improve upon them. It sparks motivation to creatively adapt and innovate, and for some, the future of their organization depends on it. Disruption also provides the opportunity to implement new positive processes in our routines to replace the ones we no longer have access to.

What Can We Learn?
Disruption gives us a highly concentrated dose of information about opportunities for improvement.

1. It reveals the mistakes we were making that we were not paying for, but now are. Those pain points are sure a good motivator for improvement (both as an organization and individually).
   • For example, relying on one revenue stream that has now declined may now be a motivator for many to work harder at finding ways they can build diverse revenue streams.
2. Perhaps we can improve on fundamentals?
   • Find new customer groups who we can reach now and without major ‘re-tooling
   • Retain bigger cash reserves
   • Focus on what really matters
   • Make time for long-term, strategic planning
3. View disruption as a motivator that initiates growth earlier than it otherwise would, bringing the benefits to fruition faster.

What Can We Create?
Disruption requires us to be innovative.

1. It pushes us to find new solutions to things we wouldn’t otherwise be motivated to solve.
2. How can we connect with our audience in a different way that is relevant and meaningful for them in these current times? Are there new groups we can connect with within the immediate future?
3. What needs have been born from this disruption that fits your capabilities. Do any of them fit with your current audience or is there a new audience that could benefit from your skillset?

What can I Improve/Change?
Disruption allows us to re-engineer our routines.

1. We rely more heavily on driving benefits from the good parts of our routines (e.g. the things that keep us focused and productive, the things that give us relief from the daily grind, the things that meet our needs and help us flourish, etc.).
2. Falling into bad habits can become a problem if we leave our routines on “automatic” during massive disruption. We need to make conscious decisions to adjust and adapt to our new surroundings so we do not devolve into bad habits.
3. Add as many positive processes as possible and remove any negative processes.
4. Perhaps there are things about my habits or routines personally that can be learned from this disruption? What really matters? What can I keep doing, do more of, or do less of?

Let’s Recap:
Keep in mind these three fairly universal opportunities we can seek during this time:

1. Think about opportunities for learning.
2. Think about opportunities for creativity.
3. Think about how we can re-engineer our routines.

It is our hope that these opportunities can help you leverage this situation into something good. Let’s encourage each other to look forward and create things for ourselves to look forward to within the disruption, leading us to progression, not regression.