Movement Practices

The following practices are insights that support leaders and teams to find more movement in what they do. They are designed to be applied consistently over time to support the break-through you need.

WHEN YOU CANT CHANGE THE STRESS, INCREASE THE RECOVERY

  • When we experience stress in the right dosages it is a mobilising force.

    Of course, too much stress overwhelms and depletes people, teams and organisations. On the contrary, not enough stress reduces the impetus for change.

    The focus is on managing the amount and types of stress. This is sometimes illustrated as a bell curve known as the ‘stress performance curve’ where there is an optimal amount of stress that takes us to our learning edge. This is where change happens.

    Questions to consider:

    Which stressors do we have the agency to reduce and how? And which stressors can facilitate change if we lean into them more?

    The practice is to find the right balance between stress and recovery. Sometimes we need to increase recovery or remove ourselves from the stress. And other times we need to amplify the challenge.

HARNESS STRESS AS AN AGENT FOR CHANGE

  • Sometimes we have to endure stressors at work that we don't have the agency or capacity to change.

    When this is the case the focus is on increasing our capacity to recover.

    Doing so fundamentally changes our relationship with the stress and gives us the resources and wherewithal to change what is depleting us.

    Questions to consider:

    How can people, teams and organisations increase their recovery? And especially in busy and uncertain times? This is the practice to explore.

THE MORE COMPLICATED THE SITUATION, THE SIMPLER THE RESPONSE

  • The more extreme the exhaustion, distress or overwhelm….the simpler the response that's required.

    I learned this from my work as a psychotherapist working with high risk clients and female prisoners: the situation might be complex but the response needed is actually simple. What is the one thing that is needed right now? What will give you the most energy?

    I have found the same in organisations. The higher the pressure and stress being experienced, the less there is to do in response. What is the most simple and effective thing that is needed for you, your team or even the whole organisation to move through it? Making it complicated just adds more pressure and adds to the stuckness.

    Keep it simple. Do less. Don’t overcomplicate it.

  • Over the last few years I have begun - using the metaphor of fire - to describe two key ways we can sustain ourselves through this busy period.

    Many of us predominantly use the "red fire" in us. We activate our adrenaline, and other stress related hormones, knuckle down and get a great deal done. This type of fire is frequently (but not always) driven by our fears and anxieties. Organisational cultures can often invoke this response in us: tight deadlines, lots of uncertainty and too much to do.

    There is a time and a place for a bit of stress and adrenaline. However our bodies weren’t designed to use it on an ongoing basis. It is a finite energy resource and we pay a personal price for repeatedly using it. So do our organisational cultures.

    In contrast, there is the "blue fire" within us. This type of energy is drawn from a sense of purpose, what inspires us and feeling connected to something bigger than ourselves. It can come from aligning who we are with what we do. This type of energy feels calmer and more grounded - even when we're busy. We can see what matters more clearly. It promotes self care and it sustains us for far longer.

    We need both of these fires. They both serve a purpose. But our over reliance on the red fire is a recipe for burnout and stuck-ness.

    How can you access the blue fire in you more frequently? How can you support those around you to access it too?

THE RED VERSUS THE BLUE FIRE

THE INFINITY LOOP

  • The best expression of resilience is a process of flow - we are constantly learning and growing from what we encounter in our lives and organisations. Like an infinity loop, there is a constant dance between resilience and change….

    So how does it work?

    Well, I have found the biggest opportunity for change happens when we feel de-stabalised by a challenge or difficulty. Either because we took a risk or because a challenging situation was thrust upon on us and we resourced ourselves to face into it.

    Resilience sits at the heart of this. When we feel resourced we are more likely to take healthy and proportionate risks. And resilience helps us find a way through a challenge. To be calm, grounded and responsive to what is unfolding around us.

    At its core, resilience has a learning mindset - we are open and willing to be altered by what is happening. In other words we use the disturbance of change as a stimulus to build our resilience. A more typical response is to get our head down and get through it!

    This doesn’t mean we need to embrace what overwhelms or triggers us. When something is too much we need to find our way back to our comfort zone - knowing how to do this is an essential part of a resilience practice.

BUSYNESS IS AN
ANTI-CHANGE AGENT

  • If you are stuck or at an impasse it becomes much harder to find a way through when we get caught up in all the things we need to get done.

    Of course, hard work and the juggling of competing priorities is also needed to move us forwards. But sometimes it’s the way we “push” forwards - or even “push” for change - that gets in our way. The constant drive to make things happen depletes us and slows us down.

    In organisations our endemic of busyness serves to reinforce the status quo. It is a strategy for the system to keep things just the way they are. We can use it to deflect from having the real conversations and making the hard decisions needed to move forward.

    The practice here is to create a spaciousness among the busyness. To find ways to “yield’ alongside the “push”. It doesn’t necessarily mean doing less.

    Questions to consider:

    What might you be avoiding through your busyness? Individually? And collectively as a team?

    How can you soften your relationship with being busy? What would you do if you were 10% kinder to yourself? To others?

    What are the real conversations you need to have as a team? How do you create the space to slow down and begin having them?

SOMETIMES IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER

  • Sometimes it is. But more often it isn’t because the process of change is messy and meandering.

    We can experience set backs, lose our motivation and encounter new problems along the way. Sometimes it might even feel like things are getting worse.

    I see that happen when a person or team face into something they’ve been avoiding and it feels like a can of worms is being opened.

    This doesn’t necessarily mean you are headed in the wrong direction. As long as the destination is clear, I have come to believe that that meandering path is exactly what is needed to arrive at a more creative and powerful outcome.

    Course corrections might be needed along the way but sometimes all that’s called for is to trust in the process of what you are doing…and give it time.

    I liken this experience to untangling a bad knot - it looks worse before it looks better.

    The practice here is spot when you need to simply trust in the process of what you are already doing. And to meet the messiness of change with compassion, gentleness and even a smile 😊

UNBALANCE YOURSELF TO ACCELERATE THE MOVEMENT

  • It happens when life’s curve balls unexpectedly hit us and knock us off course. They become a catalyst for change…provided we have enough support in place to navigate through it.

    I have found it also happens when we risk unbalancing ourselves. By this I mean doing something that is important to us which can invoke some anxiety and discomfort.

    I see this happen when someone in a team decides to name what no one else is willing to talk about. When someone speaks up for what they believe in. Or when a therapy client comes to me wanting to face into what they have been avoiding for years.

    At its best, unbalancing yourself is an ongoing practice where you consistently step just beyond what is comfortable. Baz Lurhmann says it best in his 'Wear Suncreen' song: "Do one thing every day that scares you”.

    The skill is in knowing the type, dosage and frequency of challenge that is needed to rock the boat and release the creative energy that will move us forward. Too much can be overwhelming and unsafe. And too little…well…doesn’t change anything!

    Through my work I have found that, sometimes, the smallest dose of challenge is all that is needed to create a break-through. And at other times it requires patience and consistency.

    This is not challenge for the sake of challenge which tends to invite posturing, numbing out and looking good. It is challenge with gentleness and support. And an intention of what you are trying to cause.

    If this resonates and you want to give it a go, begin with these two questions:

    What would I do if I were 10% braver?
    What would I do if I were 10% kinder?

THE SHADOW SIDE OF RESILIENCE

  • At the start of projects I frequently meet people and teams who are at the edge of their capacity.

    That's why I think resilience is so important as part of the change process. It allows people to resource themselves and better navigate the messiness of meaningful change.

    And yet - I have noticed several situations recently where I have found resilience to be the enemy of change!

    I have realised there are occasions when our focus on wellbeing desensitises us to the signals telling us something different is needed and we need to act on it.

    For example I see it happen when:
    ➡️ We use resilience to become ‘ok’ in a dysfunctional team rather than resourcing ourselves to take a stand for a better working environment.
    ➡️ We are striving towards a goal that feels harder than it ought to be and use resilience to keep pushing towards it.

    This is what buddhists describe as the 'near enemy’. Or what I call the shadow side of resilience.

    It refers to situations when we are striving for one particular quality (e.g. building resilience as a tool for change) but end up achieving something subtly yet profoundly different (building resilience to keep us stuck).

    The practice here is to LET GO. To loosen your grip on what you are trying to cause. Or what you are willing to put up with.

    There is no shame in giving up. It might be exactly what is needed. I can think of several instances (for myself and clients) where it has revealed a better path that can be walked with more ease.