We at g have spent the better part of the year working on some bigger thinking while running the business. It's a busy time and the demands of doing the day to day and doing this deeper work are significant.(Thus no time to blog or Facebook)
The work is uncomfortable and confronting and that is the very point of it. We live in a world that is out of control and yet we create a structure to make sense of it, much of it a delusion. Human nature is to move toward the comfortable. Stick to the diet or demolish a box of Voodoo donuts? By shining a light on that delusion and really seeing how we are when we face the discomfort is an opportunity to grow. We have created our own adversity through this work and are growing because of it.
The management team headed out to the Oregon coast for a 2 day retreat this week. Expectations were high for an experience that would move the dialogue forward. We arrived to find the rental house in disrepair. A hockey team had rented it prior to us and had destroyed the place. Cleaners took hours cleaning it all up so we lost a chunk of the first morning. And there was our first teacher. How do we deal with this type of unexpected adversity? Do we let it rule us or do we rule it? We reacted to it one way initially (negatively) and then saw that there was an opportunity to rise above it. Get senior to it. So we did and the retreat was a great success.
Meanwhile back at gHQ another setback had struck. A washing machine in an upstair neighbour's place was stuck on the fill cycle and they had left for the day. When Karen arrived at work she called to say it was raining in the office. There was water all over the place. The daycare downstairs closed for the day. It was havoc momentarily and then the troops got to it. The landlord was called and carpet was ripped up to be inspected and dehumidifiers installed. The place stank so folks relocated to other spaces or worked from home. There was much to complain about but that doesn't help the situation and so the team soldiered on.
As a friend from years ago said to me when we started gDiapers, life is 99% about how we respond to it. The bigger work is helping us do just that and a whole lot more. It's also teaching us to dwell more and do less. To respond after a time rather than react in the moment. I'm looking forward to the results.
I heard about the rainstorm in your office, glad to see you all soldiered on! And there's nothing like a destructive hockey team to ruin a retreat. Thanks for the uplifting retrospect that you and your team share. We look forward to the still small advances that you're all striving for. P.S. Your team is amazing. Meet a few of them at a show in New York and continue to deal with them as much as needed. Keep on keeping on!! <3 gDipes!!
Posted by: Sarah | May 03, 2012 at 01:46 PM