So, yesterday morning I lost my toothbrush, or to be more accurate, the charger for my electric toothbrush. You see, this week I am packing to move house, so I cleared moved it from where it normally is placed, and yes, couldn’t then find it.
That moment had me smile and consider the balance between having everything methodically in its place and, on the other side, being flexible and unstructured and where I sit with this.
I hope my musings below, starting from this lost toothbrush, help you with finding balance for yourself and those you lead in how you make decisions and act on them.
Finding Balance
In my home, I like everything to have a place and be returned to that place quickly after use. I even keep Evernote notes for all storage boxes so I know what it in them before I stash them away. Yes, I am pretty organised.
On the other hand, my professional work is far less structured. I am someone who works with clients on leadership, change, impact. In order for such transformative change to occur, first one must take time to work with the client in their style and at their speed to support shifts in energy, feeling and even allow a certain degree of discomfort. At those core stages of the work, very little is formally measurable or completed, words like “holistic”, flexible, dynamic come to mine. Yes, once change has taken hold, change is often of truly meaningful impact and highly measurable in financial and other metrics, yet my core role is, typically, at the “less measurable” stage of that journey.
I recognise that, for me, being in a professional space where the work can’t readily be measured, for me sits in opposition to my first formal professional training. You see, and as I note in jocular fashion when working with professional service firms such as accountants, lawyers, architects, engineers: “Hi, my name is Tom. I am a recovering Chartered Accountant. With apologies to AA members, the first step is admitting you have a problem!”. Joking aside, though, I love to see tasks finished, just as I did as a young accountant working with things as simple as a bank reconciliation, or completing a client audit file and then putting it away until the next annual audit.
So, for me as a human, when I lost my toothbrush my “mini-epiphany” was that perhaps I need everything to be in its place at home so that I can bring simple and clear measurability in one area of life and work so I can bring balance.
“You can have it Fast, Good, Cheap. Pick any two“
One other thought linked to my move.
In my process of packing up to move house, I began with methodical lists, then tidying through things, labelling boxes and making notes (thanks be to Evernote) of what is in each box. However, this was “Good” but not “Fast” (it is all “Cheap” as doing it myself). It was certainly slow. As the process continued though, I’m aware that, though I have sufficient time, I am speeding up. After all, I can always just through things into boxes and bags, move them, then take time to unpack at the other end and work out where to put stuff.
To me, this is another level of balance. When I move into my new place, some things will be ready to unpack in the right room and into their place, others will need to be sorted out. Of course, as with any new place, there will be lots of things small and large to get used to and perhaps to change. I have a tendency to, as they say in the British Army, adopt a “ready, fire aim” approach (vs “ready, aim, fire”), so I will bring awareness to this as well as the “Fast/Good/Cheap” adage, seeking to find the balance between getting settled in quickly and in getting settled in in a way that creates a firm foundation for this new house for me for some time to come.