You may not have caught my talk about Navigating Change while (Rapidly) Remote.  You can find my slides on the Talks page of my website and related blog posts.

TL:DR: It’s not really about the worldwide pandemic, the rapid shift to remote work, the civil unrest in the USA, or any of those things.  It really is about ALL of those things and how we deal with change as individuals and groups.

Meanwhile, the question I’ve been wrestling with is “can I control the change?”  Maybe you wrestle with a similar question right now?

wooden bench with "take a little time to think" written on it
Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash

While I have many years of experience working remotely, 2020 continues to guide us on twists and turns.  For example, I’m very comfortable with online meetings, but over these last 3 months I’ve struggled at times.  I too get Zoom fatigue and find there are some days where I want to connect with people but I just can’t tolerate another online meeting.

In these cases, I need to take action to be at my best to help others.  So I control the change. I now limit the amount of meetings I take on per day.  That helps me improve how I respond to others and to think clearly in this challenging time.

Also, the current debates over the use of force by the police, the inequality that exists within our society, and the the way many of us avoid these conversations also impacts me.  I have observed the impact to some colleagues and friends.  I’ve been doing my own self-examination.

I feel I also need to take action here to be at my best to help others.  I can’t sit by and wait for this to “blow over”.  I don’t want to post another “Black Lives Matter” or “We support all races” message.  These seem to be hollow gestures to me.  There needs to be action.

Instead, I want to control the change and the only thing I can control is my response.  I need to change my thinking.  I need a mind shift.

So I’ve been reaching out to colleagues of color and listening to their perspectives.  I’ve been reading more on the subject.  I want to be informed to decide how I want to respond now AND in the future.

I want to control MY part of the change.

Perhaps you want to do something similar?

If so, you may want to join me for this event on Friday hosted by Agile Alliance.  I’ll be volunteering behind the scenes for this remote gathering.  My good friend and colleague April Jefferson will be one of the facilitators.  If you want to engage in conversation and control the change, please join us by signing up at https://www.agilealliance.org/events/growing-racial-equity-in-the-agile-community-for-black-lives/

Hope to see you there.

Mark