How can something you’ve done so often, suddenly be difficult?
It was just a flight of stairs
I stood at the bottom of a flight of stairs.
It was only about ten steps, although they were a little higher than usual, and made of stone.
Drawn by my curiosity of what the view would be from the top, I eagerly started up.
On the third step I had to stop. I suddenly did not feel well. My legs were heavy. I was considering if I should sit down or even go back down to the bottom.
After a few deep breaths, I steadied myself, and at a much slower pace, I managed to stand on the next stair. And then the next. And the next. When I eventually got to the top, I was indeed rewarded with an amazing view, and my guide’s “I told you so” smile.
Everything looked like a hundred other staircases I’ve climbed before.
But my circumstances had changed, a lot
What was different was that in the morning, I had woken up at sea level in Lima, Peru, and that afternoon I was at the highest point in Cusco at an elevation above 11,000 feet.
I had been warned that high altitude would make a difference, and I believed it! But in the moment, I defaulted to how I usually went up stairs. I would have been much better off had I fully considered the change in my circumstances and adapted.
It’s easy to loose sight of context
At work, it is also common to lean on our defaults and lose sight of our context. “I’ve given this training presentation ten times before. I’m ready.” Or “I’ve shared a status report in the staff meeting multiple times. I’ll be fine.”
Then we can feel flat-footed and surprised when it doesn’t go smoothly.
Our environment is always changing. We can have new staff members with different learning styles and backgrounds; what was done in person is now hybrid; and even you may be unusually tired some days.
We can certainly leverage what we know, but we can perform at our best when we also stay aware of what is changing around us, including ourselves.
Strengthening our discernment
So here’s an exercise for you to strengthen your discernment muscle:
- Today, identify something coming up on your calendar that you would say you have done many times. Maybe it’s a monthly report, or a performance review.
- Then, challenge yourself to list a few ways that it might be different this time. Perhaps there are new stakeholders, or your career goals have deepened.
- Through the week, watch for new ways to add to your list and related adaptations that come to mind. Maybe you’ll highlight different aspects or make it shorter or longer.
- When you work on the task, review your list and notice what you do differently and how others respond.
- At the end of the week, notice what was easy and what was hard, and how you feel about that task now.
