When your bubble starts to bend
At a conference on Friday, a speaker shared a Jack Welch quote: “When the rate of change outside an organization exceeds the rate of change inside, the end is near.”
It was meant for organisations, but I found myself thinking about people.
Most of us live and work inside our own little bubble. From the inside, it can feel fairly stable. Our routines are familiar. Our habits make sense. If we think about it at all, we tell ourselves not much has really changed.
But the world outside keeps pressing in.
New technology. New expectations. New pressures. New ways of working. For a while, our bubble just flexes a bit. Then sometimes there is a sudden shove from outside, and the old way no longer fits.
There is nothing wrong with doing things the old way if they still work. The clue is friction.
Maybe you still tackle your day by reacting to whatever lands first, but now you end most days busy and oddly behind.
Maybe you still say ‘yes’ the way you always have, but now that ‘yes’ costs you more than it used to.
So, what is pressing on your bubble right now?
Where is life feeling harder than it should?
What small update on the inside would help you meet the world as it is, not as it was?
What are your next words: ‘I need to get better at…’?
My best wishes, Paul
