I spotted 6 behaviours to take with us into 'the new normal'

My dear friends in all parts of the world,

I feel the need to share the positive vibrations that have been building up in me over the past weeks! And I look forward to hearing your responses!

1 - the new normal

Let me first tell you that I understand and feel that around us exist a lot of fear, insecurity, vulnerability, stress from not seeing each other or stress from seeing each other too much… I can feel it too and sometimes these emotions catch me as well…

AND… I live from a strong belief: that we can learn and grow from everything that happens to us. Life has confirmed this to me over and over and it also taught me that the larger the emotion, the stronger the learning. So… I believe we need to take the opportunity to take our society to the next level and use this crisis as a transformational step. Let me tell you how I see this.

  • By turning inward, into our houses, into ourselves, we have a great opportunity to reflect on who we are. There are much less interferences and influences from the outside world and we can fully experience our own energy. I personally am really enjoying feeling my energy every day, it brings me clarity, confidence and calmness. Let’s take this opportunity to answer questions like: Who am I? What is really important in life? How sensitive am I to the outside world?
  • We all have the ability to consciously choose our response to a situation (for Stephen Covey fans: we are all response-able). This is a great time to practice the habit of choosing our response, both in behaviour and emotion, to the situation we are in. How do I want to feel? How can I stay positive and optimistic and think in possibilities while I embrace insecurity and vulnerability? What can get me back into feeling good when something pulls me out of it?
  • I am noticing the immense focus and collaboration between people and within organisations leads to quick results. I see this in healthcare, our food supply, our education system but also in other companies that decide to use their resources to support the vital sectors. My question to you all: How can we keep this spirit? And how can we change or eliminate patterns and processes that in the past slowed us down?
  • The complexity of what is happening around us is huge, it is continuously changing and we cannot grasp everything. For those familiar with the term VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous): how much more VUCA can it get? It makes me happy to see the ‘learning by doing’-attitude: We think of an action that could help us move to a solution, we do it, we learn what works and what doesn’t work and based on that weadjust the course. Continuous improvement in its core! Plan-Do-Check-Act. What great experience to take with us!
  • What also excites me is the large amount of creativity throughout our society in how we stay in contact, how we support each other and the hard workers in the vital sectors, how we entertain ourselves and our families stuck in our homes. I also see how some small businesses can continue to make some money or use this time to promote themselves via online activities.
2 - the new normal
  • Last but not least, I see people learning to work and collaborate remotely. The most obvious consequence of this is that this could change our view on how much travel is needed and reduce our climate impact. As a side effect – and also extremely important – I see managers learning to trust employees now they don’t see them. And trust is extremely important to motivate people, enable them to use their talents and allow them to be innovative. All key to make organizations deliver results sustainably.

  • My aim is to help people incorporate these lessons into the ‘new normal’ when this crisis is over. In the meantime let’s continue to focus on staying healthy, staying connected, supporting each other and working towards solutions. The earlier we can start the ‘new normal’ the better!

    I would love to hear from you!!

    With love, Dimphy