Where are you this week?
This week I find myself “up north” at the family cottage. I grew up in Michigan where I am now. Fortunately, the lake cottage of my childhood remains in our family. Up with the early sunrise this morning, I went out paddling. While on the water I began thinking of the patterns—the ones we embrace in our personal and professional lives.
My parents are no longer on this earth but the patterns they set at the cottage remain. My younger brother now opens the cottage in the late spring and closes it again in the fall. The dock goes in. The small pontoon boat finds its place in the water. Water rationing goes into effect because we must watch our septic system. All seems familiar.
These patterns seem to give us a sense of rhythm and order They are the unspoken norms of this cottage (and certainly help now that three siblings own this place).
But then, someone new comes to the cottage for a visit and asks, “but why do you do it the same way all the time? Wouldn’t it work better if X is done instead of Y?”
My internal, immediate response rises, “But we have always done it that way!” Then I begin to consider that maybe, just maybe, the patterns we find so soothing and help us find our rhythm also need a little disruption.
But first we must recognize our patterns.
I visited a company recently to observe the rhythm of their morning meetings to get a sense of what was working and what was not. What surprised me is that there was no regular pattern and the organization suffered. The day got off to a shaky start. Team members lost valuable time figuring out what they had to do for the day. Efficiency suffered.
As leaders our job is to create a rhythm before we disrupt it. What patterns are you creating for your team members? How are you running your morning meetings? Are they daily, weekly or constrained for maximum effect??
Need help identifying the patterns of your organization? Give me a call. I’ll help you to identify the patterns of your organization. Together we can work to identify the needs you have and then, what needs to change.
Fly high,
Barbara
Connect with me at CaptainBarbaraBell.com. Of course, check out my book, Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High.
#leadership, #patternrecognition, #disruption, #culture, #friendship, #relationships, #womenveterans,#veterans, #coaching, #mentoring
