Dilemma of the new normal
Saying ‘no’ more often means we can focus on the priorities that fulfil our purpose
In business conversations with executives and managers there seems to be a longing to know what the ‘new normal’ is and for it to fully reveal itself. That way, we all know where the tram lines and guardrails are, in order to get back on track.
Yet what this pandemic period has also done, is allow more thoughtful business leaders to ask existential questions about purpose and priorities in their work and personal lives. Aside from a fanatical few, no sensible person wants to return to a people-burnout culture, which left employees and their families traumatised – all conveniently off-balance sheet externalities.
For individuals who want to be successful at work, but also have a purposeful life away from the office, here lies the dilemma of attainment.
IF WE DON’T PRIORITISE OUR LIVES, SOMEONE ELSE WILL
For, if we don’t prioritise our lives, someone else will and life will play out in the following way: We work hard and accomplish what we set out to do. And so, in stage one, we are clear about our purpose and priorities and it’s this clarity which leads to our attainment. In stage two, we become known as the fixer, as someone who has a reputation for getting things done, and so are offered further openings and opportunities.
However, these additional openings and opportunities result in stage three, where we have additional requests and strains on our time and energy and our efforts diffuse as we get stretched. By the time we enter stage four, we are seriously distracted from what should have been the biggest priority. The result – we undercut the clarity which resulted in our attainment in the first place, and this leads to burnout and crash.
Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism, says that: “Success can distract us from focusing on the essential things that produce success in the first place.”
The implication here is that we must learn to say ‘no’ more often. Not a bad thing, because it means we can focus on the priorities that fulfil our purpose. McKeown recommends we ask ourselves: “Which problem do I want?” “What do I want to go big on?”
I’ve had moments in my career where I’ve said no to bosses, because it was taking me away from the central purpose of my role, and so the success of the organisation. I remember one boss who had a ‘special project’ which he wanted me to look into when I had a moment. I didn’t have a moment, unless I was prepared to give up vast hours of my weekend for the next two months. I qualified the ‘opportunity’ out. My boss wasn’t impressed and found a peer of mine who did take on the ‘challenge’, with the result that my peer was burnt out and then resented the manager for the special project and found an opportunity outside the organisation.
We all know the tremendous cost involved in recruitment and retention, so to bleed out talent in this way is a violation of the commitments we make to our employers.
As the late management thinker Peter Drucker said, “In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time – literally – substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it.”
We can all prepare by asking ourselves what is vital and necessary in the new normal and then choose to ignore everything else.