Just in time! I’ve been in London without laptop and just got home. It still counts it’s before midnight!
So.
I was at a conference speaking about How to own change. The talk is based on the five steps that we run as a programme, a course, a workshop. I know the topic pretty well now, but it’s a topic that moves and grows. For that reason I don’t have slides. I just talk and see where the audience is at.
Today. It was an all day corporate conference. Their first gathering in 2 years. It’s been a challenging time for the business. They wanted to reconnect people.
The morning was briefings and company chat, the afternoon was a team building session that had them making films, juggling chairs, being wrapped up in a tablecloth… when I arrived it was like 18-30s had taken over the PA. And the sun was out, they were outside, the bar was open, the wine and beer were flowing. Oh shit was my thought. I’m on at the 4pm slot, to calm it all down, bring things into perspective - but I mean who wants perspective when the sun is out!
Anyway… I did my thing, dialled up the chat and stories more than usual, shared the five steps but through stories, and people wanted to be with me, you can feel that as a speaker but there were a lot of red faces, shuffling a bit, holding on, trying to get through. 200 faces that looked like collectively they all really suddenly felt the beer hit them.
You remember when you used to go on holiday (Oh you still go on holiday? nice) and they did a hotel briefing just after lunch the day you arrived, and you’d already had a few pina coladas and didn’t really want to hear about Susan’s recommendations for day trips but you also wanted to get the free drinks vouchers, so you pushed through her chat… yeah, it felt like that. (This of course is my read on the room. They might’ve been in a completely different place, however it was a travel company… so you know)
So, I ended the talk at 38 minutes. It should’ve been an hour. But I felt like minds had gone, not in a bad way, they just really needed to be somewhere else.
I was there to ignite their thinking, help them reflect on the day, help them to think about their change story. We’d covered that, I could see that had connected. But I thought to push on would lose that message. Because once you go over that line of holding on at an event you aren’t listening anymore.
Well that was my thinking.
But was I right?
I’ve been sitting on the train on the way home thinking. Did I do the right thing. In a way it doesn’t matter, the moment is gone. But in another way I want to be more clear for next time. So I don’t waste a 3 hour train journey pondering thoughts on what should or shouldn’t have happened.
It feels like we are committed to time, we are booked and paid for time. And time is what we then should deliver. But is that right?
I was booked to help people end the day with thought they could take away and think about. That was achieved. And yet I’m feeling bad about it.
How many times to push on through right to the end of the meeting because ‘ we have the time’ and yet the meeting finished 20 minutes ago.
We feel like we need to stay at work until 5.30pm, but our work for the day was done at 4pm.
Why does time dominate output?
Are we really so lazy that we just need a nice tangible thing to make us feel comfortable with worth?
So that’s what I’m pondering. Hopefully not much longer. Hopefully I will be off to sleep soon.
But what would you do? Push on or stop?
eleanor
I feel for you. Well done