Before You Rush to Pivot, Take Time to Pause
This is my first real post since the world turned on its head, at least in my neck of the woods. I get that the presence of Corona virus was felt in China and Europe well before we here in Canada were impacted; and it’s here now. Which means my own experience is behind the curve of what my Eastern brothers and sisters have been living with.
I myself have been in self-isolation (to ever-increasing degrees) since March 15th. That’s a whole month of limited outings, no physical contact with friends and family (other than those in my household) and figuring out a new way to work professionally; while my work with individual clients remains much as it used to be (phone, zoom, email), my in-person workshops and trainings have ground to a halt. It’s been a little disorienting to say the least.
Over the past month, in speaking with colleagues, working with clients, and being with family, I’ve noticed a desire to find a new normal. The following questions are being asked regularly, particularly when it comes to our professional lives:
How do I get things done?
How do I do what I’ve always done?
What do I need to do differently?
How can I pivot effectively?
This last question is an interesting one. It holds within it a recognition that we need to reorient ourselves to a world that is, in fact, different. We need to realize that we likely need to change our course. A pivot, for those who don’t know, is a literal “turn around” from the direction that you’re heading. It’s a way to reorient.
And, while pivoting is absolutely called for in times of change, there’s something we need to do before we pivot.
We need to pause.
The pause needn’t be long (although it might be longer than you’d like). And it needn’t be heavy (although it could feel weighty, for sure). It doesn’t even need to be particularly “productive” in the traditional sense.
The pause that I’m talking about is, quite literally, a break.
It’s a breather.
It’s a chance to slow down.
In many ways, it’s what a lot of us have been craving for so long.
And, if we’re truly going to pivot meaningfully, effectively, then a pause is necessary.
Let me use a driving metaphor to illustrate. If you’re zooming along in your vehicle, and suddenly notice a dead-end ahead, you’re going to have to pivot. The only way to do that safely, however, is to pause (and in some cases, that pause will look like a complete stop).
This same need for a pre-pivot-pause is what I’m pointing to in our world at large.
Before you take that in-person course online, pause.
Before you decide to change your production line to create a new product (think hand sanitizer instead of whisky), pause.
Before you make the decision to close your brick-and-mortar store-front, pause.
The decision you make in the end, may be exactly what you would have made without the pause. The difference, however, is that you will have made it safely and from an informed (as opposed to fear-based) space. And an informed decision is always the ideal decision, even if it feels uncomfortable.
Bottom-line: everyone is being invited to pivot to some degree. Take up the invitation, by all means. And, before you pivot, pause.